


Carpe-fucking-Diem

by chimneythunder



Category: Bandom, Cobra Starship, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Bandom Big Bang, Bandom Big Bang 2013, Character Death, Community: bandombigbang, Death, M/M, Not Really Character Death, Temporary Character Death, Werewolf Mates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-28
Updated: 2013-08-28
Packaged: 2017-12-24 23:15:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 27,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/945831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chimneythunder/pseuds/chimneythunder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gerard abandons Frank for college after a one-night stand, leaving Frank behind in Belleville to pick up the pieces and try and get through high school. This all comes to a crashing halt when a bunch of supernatural creatures show up unexpectedly one night and Frank suddenly finds himself right in the middle of a war for his city and his life overflowing with vampires, werewolves and a deal with Death himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Carpe-fucking-Diem

**Author's Note:**

> My entry for Wave 3 Bandom Big Bang 2013! 
> 
> I was incredibly lucky to receive art and a mix for this. 
> 
> [Morganya](http://morganya.dreamwidth.org/) made this awesome mix which can be downloaded [HERE](https://app.box.com/s/0wefxaf3f19sl3jz50w2/) and streamed [HERE.](http://8tracks.com/morganya/a-void-a-space/)
> 
> Tracklist:  
> a void, a space  
> 1\. Garbage - Cup Of Coffee  
> 2\. Chelsea Wolfe - Demons  
> 3\. The Cramps - Blue Moon Baby  
> 4\. Hasil Atkins - I Need Your Head (This Ain't No Rock N' Roll Show)  
> 5\. Anais Mitchell - Hey, Little Songbird (feat. Greg Brown)  
> 6\. The National - Start A War  
> 7\. Averi - How Do You Deal  
> 8\. Belly - Dusted  
> 9\. The Cure - A Night Like This  
> 10\. Ke$ha - Out Alive  
> 11\. Blake Babies - Kiss and Make Up  
> 12\. Drive-By Truckers - Daylight 
> 
> Morganya did the mix for my fic in Wave One and once again, she created something absoultely perfect for the fic. From the opening Garbage track which captures just _everything_ about how Frank starts out, to Daylight which could totally be playing over the final scene, and all the lyrical references which link in perfectly with specific parts, this mix is just fantastic!! Go listen!! 
> 
> [Ficcety](http://ficcety.dreamwidth.org/profile/) did some art which contains spoilers, so can be found at the end of this fic (along with my flailing and gushing) :) 
> 
> Thank you to both of you, you've created AMAZING work that reduced me to a huge bundle of flailing and squealing when I first saw / heard it! *hugs*

Frank had already had his suspicions that this year at school was going to suck, even before he’d finished the last one. With every passing year of his academic growth, his teachers always felt the need to start each term with a motivational pep talk of how _important_ this year was going to be to get into college and how it was _now_ that the real studying had to begin, like the previous year hadn’t been enough of a struggle to get through. He also really wasn’t looking forward to how the douche-bag jocks on the soccer team never tired of how fucking ‘hilarious’ it was to stuff Frank in lockers or trip him up and steal his bag, and he’d be lying if he said he held out the hope that one day the cafeteria would ever serve a vegan-friendly option. 

But the main reason why Frank knew this year would suck was because it would be the first year back without Gerard. 

It wasn’t even like Gerard had been in any of Frank’s classes. With Gerard being Mikey’s older brother by two years, the only times that Frank actually saw him around school was at lunch or when Frank would skive off Gym class and come hang out in Gerard’s art class instead (the art teacher never seemed to question who Frank was or why he never had any art work to do). However, for the past three years, Frank had had an all-consuming, very secret and entirely inappropriate crush on Gerard, ever since that one party at Mikey’s where 14 year-old Frank had far too much to drink and the then-16-year-old Gerard had taken care of him. Gerard had done nothing necessarily major (he’d just stroked Frank’s hair and held him in place as he threw up into the toilet) but when Frank woke up the next morning in Gerard’s bed and saw Gerard sleeping on the floor a few feet away, something had just _clicked_ in Frank’s brain. 

He’d promised himself wouldn’t do anything about it though. Gerard was Mikey’s older brother - it would just be _weird_ for everyone and Frank especially couldn’t face the sheer awkwardness that would result if he tried to make a move and got rejected. Frank was content with accepting nothing could happen but it seemed the more he tried to move on, the more fucking attractive Gerard got, in a dear-God-please-just-fucking-touch-me-because-being-in-the-same-room-as-you-is-enough-to-make-me-crazy way. 

Yeah, Frank had it pretty bad. 

It got to the point that he tried to find solace in making out with _girls_ just to get as far away as possible from the sheer idea of Gerard, even though he’d pretty much figured out he was into dudes since he was 12. In all fairness, he got quite fond of some of them (in a strictly platonic way) and even lost his virginity to one particularly sweet girl called Jamia, who he kept in touch with via the occasional email after her and her folks moved West. Despite his best efforts though, he could never quite get that part of his heart that belonged to Gerard to die. 

Things all came to a head the night before Gerard left for college. To send him off in style, Ray, Mikey and Frank all piled into the basement with him and spent the evening eating pizza, drinking incredibly strong screwdrivers (Mikey Way’s drink-mixing skills were something of notoriety) and watching a very trashy Bruce Campbell movie marathon. Sometime around 2am, Mikey and Ray passed out, Gerard disappeared off into the bathroom and Frank just sat there, lounging on the bed and enjoying the nice, relaxed buzz over his skin from the alcohol. His mind wandered, his thoughts not making much sense from one to the other but mainly focusing on how much he was going to miss Gerard and how wrong it felt that he was leaving and how much Frank didn’t want to admit all this and –

And how badly he needed to piss and Gerard was _still_ in the bathroom. 

“Come on Gee, what the fuck are you doing in there?!”Frank said louding, barging into the bathroom – and walking straight in on Gerard who was just getting out the shower. 

Worryingly, the first thought that crossed Frank’s mind was “Holy shit, Gerard actually took a shower?” because Gerard Way and personal hygiene had never really been on particularly good terms. But then a nano-second later, the rest of Frank’s brain caught up and he realised Gerard was still kinda naked.

Frank had pretty much screamed “Fuck, I’m sorry!” and tried to get out the bathroom but in his flailing panic, ended up backing into the door and sealing it shut behind him. Gerard had already wrapped a towel around his waist, reaching out and grabbing Frank’s wrist.

“Woah, woah Frankie, it’s OK!” He spoke in a calm, quiet voice, like Frank was an animal that might spook at the wrong thing. 

Frank gulped and because suddenly, Gerard was _there_ , right in front of him. His attention immediately zoomed straight in on how low the towel was slung on Gerard’s hips, how his skin was glistening with beads of moisture, how the air was still damp and hot from the steam...

“You’re shaking,” Gerard said, not moving away and still speaking in that same hushed tone. 

“I – I’m – I should go.” Frank’s free hand desperately groped the wall behind him for the doorknob and he was trying to look _anywhere_ but in front of him. “Sorry – I – Mikey – shower –”

“Frank,” Gerard suddenly said in a low voice that sent shivers up and down Frank’s spine. His fingers brushed under Frank’s chin, gently lifting his head up, forcing their eyes to meet. “Look at me.”

Of all the scenarios Frank had imagined about sex with Gerard, on the bathroom floor with Mikey and Ray sleeping in the next room was _really_ not one he’d considered. Afterwards, they’d stumbled back over Ray and Mikey’s sleeping forms back into the bedroom and spent the night curled up against each other, fitting together as if they’d been designed specifically for the other. Something about the whole thing just felt so _right_ to Frank, like it had always been inevitable, like they were supposed to be together...

And then the next day, Gerard fucking left for fucking college. 

And from there, things just went from sucky to downright ‘fuck my life and everything in it’.

Initially, Frank had brushed it off as just Gerard being busy with college. The fact that Gerard wasn’t replying to any of his texts or emails or returning any of his calls had hurt, but he’d told himself that Gerard that was just busy, that that night had meant as much to Gerard as it had to Frank. And then, of course, eventually came the painful and humiliating realisation that Gerard was actually avoiding him which came in the form of Mikey one day rolling his eyes after Frank had been bugging him about Gerard for umpteenth time and saying “Look, if he _wanted_ to talk to you, he would have.” 

From Frank’s repeated and insistent pestering, Mikey and Ray had already figured that Frank was missing Gerard more than just as a friend, and eventually got the whole story out of Frank. 

Neither of them had seemed particularly surprised. 

Via Mikey and Gerard’s (incredibly frequent) emails, Frank could gather that Gee was having a super time at college, fitting in with all the other super art students and to super parties and having super lectures.

Fucking _super._

“I’m sorry, Frank,” Mikey said, being his usual unresponsive self. “But... well. It’s Gerard. You know what he’s like - I can’t tell him what to do.” 

With no help from Mikey, Frank had hoped he’d man the fuck up himself and get over Gerard soon, but towards the end of October, almost two months later, things still blowed big time. 

Like with most nights, Frank had had to force himself to hang out with Ray and Mikey for a monster movie marathon instead of the more attractive-sounding option of moping in his bedroom. He didn’t want his friends to start thinking that he was some idiot who couldn’t take rejection (even though he totally was) which meant he had to act normal and like nothing was up at all (even though it totally was). It wasn’t even like Ray and Mikey were bad company; he just couldn’t make himself feel like he wanted to be there. Instead, he tagged along behind them as they walked to the Stop’N’Shop for supplies, half-listening to the conversation to drop in the occasion “mmmhmm” and “yeah”. 

“Do you remember that?? He had sauce all over himself!!” Ray was saying as Mikey laughed. “It was like when Ger- ” 

Frank froze in his tracks as Ray stopped talking abruptly. 

“Oh, shit... Sorry, Frank,” he said, looking uncomfortable.

“It’s ok, I’m a big boy. You’re allowed to talk about him,” Frank said, keeping his voice light. “So, we getting the usual kind of popcorn or are trying something new?”

“I’m thinking... usual,” Mikey said. “What you after?”

“I’m – I’m gonna stay out here,” Frank said. “I fancy a smoke.” 

They took the escape route Frank offered without protest and quickly disappeared inside the store. Frank watched them for a while through the giant glass window, then shrugged. 

This was one of the reasons why he’d always been particularly against ever acting on his feelings for Gerard; if it ended badly, as it had, then it would have just made things uncomfortable for the rest of the group. Frank hadn’t wanted to force his friends to pick a side in this – it wasn’t fair to expect any of them (especially Mikey) to pick between Gerard or Frank – but it was still incredibly frustrating to have Mikey just roll his eyes and go “yeah, my brother’s an idiot” whenever the topic came up of how Gerard had done a runner the morning after without even saying goodbye to Frank or how he wasn’t answering any of Frank’s emails or phone calls. 

It wasn’t fair. He was trying to laugh it off and act like he was fine but now there was this stupid awkwardness every time someone mentioned Gerard. He was _trying_ not to make things weird. Why couldn’t his stupid friends just try and play along?! 

“This sucks,” he muttered, pulling a cigarette out. He held it between his lips as he searched in his pockets for his lighter when –

“Need a light?”

Frank jumped about a foot into the air. There was a guy standing next to him – literally, not even a foot away – and Frank had been so absorbed in his depressing thoughts that he hadn’t even heard him approach. 

The guy chuckled and held out a very battered Zippo.

“Trade? Fire for a smoke?” 

“Sure,” Frank managed to say, trying to get his heartbeat back under control. He handed over a cigarette to the guy and as the guy lit the cigarette for him, Frank took a better look at him. He was short, probably only an inch or so taller than Frank, and vaguely punky-looking with short black hair and a sweeping fringe that covered one eye. He actually didn’t look much older than Frank, which made the tattoos spilling down his arms all the more impressive, vivid black lines against pale white skin that seemed to glow under the neon lights of the convenience store. 

Frank adored tattoos; he was counting down the days until his 18th’ birthday coming up in three days on Halloween. He’d already got his first planned and drawn out (a pumpkin on his back, which he felt was incredibly appropriate), the money saved up and the place picked out, and he was totally planning on skipping school to get it done. 

Frank was so caught up in awe of the ink that he didn’t even realise he was being spoken to until it was too late. 

“Huh?” he said, very ineloquently. 

The guy was smiling as he blew a stream of smoke up into the air. “I was saying, it’s just my luck that it’s the tastiest looking snack I find and you’re already marked!” 

... OK, so apparently it didn’t matter if Frank had been listening or not for all the sense that made. 

“Huh?” 

“I’m Pete anyway,” the guy continued, still smiling and holding his hand out. 

“Frank,” Frank said. As he shook Pete’s hand, he couldn’t help himself blurting out “Woah dude, your hands are freezing!!” 

Pete grinned. “Yeah, comes with the territory, if you get my drift. I’m here in peace, don’t worry! My lot – we’re just passing through the town but I thought I’d find the owners, say ‘hi’ and all. So where’s your mate anyway?” 

“Mate?” Frank blinked, not sure if he understood any of that. Perhaps this guy was British? He didn’t have that kind of accent though... 

“He’s ... uh... inside.” Frank gestured at the shop window, to where Mikey and Ray at the checkout. Mikey’s head suddenly shot up and he looked at Frank, as if he’d heard Frank through the thick glass. 

“Oh!” Pete said softly. “Cute!”

Mikey looked at Pete, who was staring intently at him through the window and Frank resisted the urge to roll his eyes – like, way to be subtle, dude. Mikey’s entire body suddenly jolted and he did this weird blinky thing before immediately looking away at his feet, back at Ray, back at the money – anywhere but out the window at Frank and Pete.

From experience, Frank knew this was Mikey Way code for ‘I think I’m in love.’

“The one with the glasses,” Pete said with a curious smile pulling at the corners of his mouth, not taking his eyes off Mikey. “He’s not...”

Frank snorted. Even if his best friend was being a colossal useless dick about his stupid non-calling, one-night-standing brother, he was still his best friend. 

“Who, Mikey? Is he... Straight? Taken? No and no,” Frank said, elbowing Pete slyly in the side. 

Pete burst out laughing. 

“Well, I was gonna say ‘ _yours_ ’ but clearly not.”

Something in the phrase reminded Frank of Gerard, of _that_ night. He gave a small shudder, trying to force back the unexpected onslaught of memory. He couldn’t let himself think about Gerard, not since Gerard had made his feelings on the matter perfectly clear. 

“No,” he said, blinking furiously as his eyes suddenly felt hot and prickly. “He’s not - not mine.” 

“Oh fair enough!” Pete continued, obliviously cheerful. “I’m taken anyway but a guy can always look, right? So - the one with the afro? That your boy?”

“That’s Ray,” Frank said. He wasn’t sure if it was that he really just didn’t understand what the hell Pete was saying or if it was that all the Gerard-moping had finally caught up with him and destroyed his IQ by ten points. 

“Huh,” Pete said, looking at Ray curiously. Ray and Mikey were now heading for the entrance, both of them looking at Pete with the same level of interest. “Doesn’t seem the alpha type.” 

“The _what_ type??” Frank asked.

The automatic doors to the shop slid open and out stepped Mikey and Ray.

“Hey Frank, got you some corn nuts,” Mikey was saying, when the wind changed direction, blowing from behind Frank and Pete into Mikey’s direction. “Who’s –”

Mikey dropped the bag he was carrying and suddenly growled. 

Actually fucking _growled_. 

“Who’s _this_?” he asked, sounding furious and glaring at Pete. “Get the hell away from him!!”

“Woah woah dude, chill! White flag waving and all!!” Pete said, but he took a step away from Frank all the same. 

“What are you doing here?” Mikey snarled.

Frank looked between Mikey and Pete, completely bemused and just a little bit on the verge of freaked out, because seriously, what the hell? Since when did Mikey randomly growl at total strangers? 

“Do you two know each other?” Ray asked. He looked as lost as Frank. 

“No,” Mikey said, not taking his eyes off Pete. 

“Yeah, we’ve never had the pleasure. Let’s make nice. Frank said you’re Mikey, right? I’m Pete,” Pete said, holding out his hand to Mikey.

Mikey stared at Pete’s hand like he wasn’t sure what to do with it.

“Listen, I’m not here to cause trouble, I swear,” Pete said. He sounded so earnest that Frank actually believed him. “Me and mine are in town for a bit. We’re just passing through for a few days but what with the moon coming up and all, I wanted to set the peace before we had any kind of misunderstanding. So, where’s your alpha?”

Frank caught Ray’s eye. Ray mouthed “alpha?” at him. Frank shrugged and mouthed “I have **no** idea.” 

Clearly though, Mikey understood whatever that meant. After a moment’s pause, he said “That’s me.”

Pete burst out laughing. 

“Nice try. No, seriously – where is he?” 

“Can we not do this _here_?” Mikey hissed, shooting a very not-subtle glance at Frank and Ray. 

“Ohh!!” Pete said, understanding flashing across his features. “ _Il n’est pas devant les muggles_?”

“Hey! I’m not a muggle!!” Frank cried, offended.

“Pete, _please_ ,” Mikey said through gritted teeth with just the faintest hint of anxiety. 

Everything about this was wrong. Frank didn’t know what the hell was going on or who the hell this Pete guy was, but he knew that whatever this was, it was upsetting enough to force Mikey to try pleading with a stranger. 

“Come on Mikey, we should go,” Frank said, grabbing Mikey’s arm with a worried look at Pete. 

“Yeah, come on Mikey, I’ve got curfew to meet,” Ray said, taking the other arm. 

Pete laughed. “Alright alright, I get the hint. Mikey, tell your alpha I said hi and I’m looking for him, OK? I’m serious about the whole ‘coming in peace’ thing.” He looked at Frank and gave this weird half-bow with a hand flourish that wouldn’t have looked out of place coming from an eighteenth-century nobleman. “Frank, it was a genuine pleasure. I’ll see you around.”

“You stay away from him,” Mikey growled. “You stay away from all of us. If I were you and your kind, I’d get out of here before you start some kind of war.” 

“I’m not looking for war, I’ve told you that,” Pete said and for the first time, his smile dropped and he looked genuinely worried. “Seriously. We just need a town to rest in for a few days.”

“Stay out our way and we’ll stay out of yours, OK?” Mikey snapped. “And if any _problems_ rise –”

“Only the alpha can give an order like that. You know that,” Pete said. The words were smug but the tone was worried. 

Before anyone could say anything else, with one final pointed look at Frank, Pete turned around on his heel and walked away across the empty parking lot. Frank watched him disappear into the night. There was a strange grace to his movements, like he didn’t so much walk as he did glide and then... melt into the darkness. 

Frank blinked. He should probably quit smoking, the nicotine was fucking with his eyesight. 

“Mikey, what the hell was that about?” Ray asked. His voice had gone into the high-pitched range usually reserved for when he caught Frank cheating at D&D. 

“I have no idea,” Mikey said bluntly. His hands were shaking, clenched into fists. “What a weirdo. Come on, let’s go home.”

Frank and Ray gave each other incredulous looks at the blatant lie but they didn’t bring it up again. They’d known Mikey long enough to know that when he didn’t want to talk about something, there was no power on this earth that could make him speak. 

Frank couldn’t help but wonder what Mikey was hiding though. He let himself dwell on it that night, coming up with fantastic suggestions involving drug deals and secret ex-boyfriends from band camp. It even managed to take his mind off Gerard for a bit.

~*~*~

The next day, Mikey was even quieter than usual and despite Ray’s best efforts to get him to open up, Mikey just frowned and told them to forget about it. Even Frank’s offering at lunch of an evening with rubbish horror movies and warm screwdrivers failed to work as Mikey just shook his head and said he’d got a ton of homework to do.

Frank stared at him. 

“Mikey, if you don’t want to, you just have to say. You don’t need to lie to me,” he said, wounded.

“No! Shit, Frank, I didn’t mean –” Mikey groaned and took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes. There were grey shadows forming under his eyes. “I just... there’s a lot going on right now.”

“To do with that Pete guy?” Ray asked. 

“No,” Mikey said far too quickly. 

“What was with him anyway?” Frank asked, taking a bite of his sandwich. “Like, all that talk of alphas and ‘his kind’? And he told me I was marked or something too!”

Mikey looked up, alarmed.

“He... he could tell?” he asked.

“What?” Frank stared at him, forgetting to swallow his mouthful of sandwich.

“I – Fuck. OK, look, I’ll tell you,” Mikey said, lowering his voice and looking around to make sure no one in the canteen was listening. Frank and Ray eagerly leaned in. 

Frank had decided last night that Pete was someone who Mikey met online and completely fallen for, except Pete had lied about everything about himself, even going so far as to pretend that he was actually some grungy girl who wore too much eyeliner, called... Anna? Alexis? Alicia? Some kind of pretty-sounding A-name. Eventually, Mikey had found out the truth and heart-broken, blocked Pete from his life completely. In a shocking twist, it turned out that Pete was actually totally in love with Mikey but having some issues with accepting his sexuality. Pete eventually decided that the only way to properly know for sure would be to track Mikey down in real life... 

Frank had still been debating as he walked to school that morning whether or not he would let Mikey and Pete end up together in his fantasy scenario. He’d been envisioning the tearful moment where Pete confronted Mikey, got down on his knees and apologised for all the pain he’d caused when Frank realised Pete was grabbing _his_ hand in the scene. He’d looked down at Pete but then Pete’s hair had suddenly got long and greasy, and his face morphed into Gerard’s, tearful and apologising for everything... 

“That Pete guy,” Mikey said. “He’s like... he’s kinda in a gang. Or at least, he’s associated with a gang and similar people to them. They used to cause a lot of trouble for Gerard. That’s why he was saying he was looking for the ‘alpha.’ He... He must have known who I am. That nickname, it was – like – it was how they’d mock him.”

Frank felt a spike of inexplicable anger flash through him. 

“What did they do?” he asked, immediately hating himself for caring. He didn’t care about Gerard. Gerard was a dick who didn’t care about him. 

“Nothing major,” Mikey said quickly. “Just... name calling mostly. Outstaying their welcome. But as for Pete... He’s not good news. So guys, seriously. Please... whatever you do, don’t go out after sundown anymore, OK? It’s not safe.”

Ray and Frank looked at each other. 

_Our friend’s gone crazy,_ Ray said with an eyebrow raise. 

_Utterly batshit,_ Frank replied with a nod. 

“I’m serious!” Mikey said. 

“Mikey, Pete was barely taller than Frank. I’d like to see him try _anything,_ ” Ray said, barely hiding his grin. 

“Yeah, and if the worst they could do was ‘name-calling,’ then they’re not exactly bad-ass bikers, are they?” Frank said with a laugh. He preferred his ‘internet-love’ theory. 

“Guys, I’m not kidding!” Mikey suddenly slammed his hand down on the table with a loud bang. “And whatever you do, if you run into Pete or any of his friends, _do not_ let them know that Gerard’s -”

“Let me get this one straight,” Frank said, cutting over Mikey. He suddenly found he didn’t really care anymore about hearing the rest of the explanation. “You’re not going to tell us anything. You’re just going to give a bunch of cryptic crap about how we can’t trust these guys and then tell us not to go outside after dark because your useless brother can’t handle some name calling... and we’re supposed to go along with it?”

Mikey looked to Ray for support but Ray shrugged. 

“Sorry Mikey, I’m with Frank on this one. I like Gerard and all but what he did to Frank wasn’t cool.”

“He’s my _brother_ -” Mikey began to say but Frank cut across him. 

“Yeah yeah, I get it.” It came out a bit more savagely than Frank had intended. “Bros before hos and all. Whatever. You’re not telling us everything about this Pete guy anyway.”

He’d been talking at random, trying to deter yet _another_ ‘Gerard broke my best friend’s heart but I’m still going to defend him to death’ speech, so Frank was entirely surprised when Mikey’s shoulders slumped and he said “I _can’t_ ” in a pained voice. 

But then, fuck it all, Frank had just had enough. He’d had enough of bullshit, of constantly having to be reminded of how gullible he was for mistaking a one-night stand for something more and in general, he’d had enough of the Way’s for one day. 

He stood up. Ray did the same. 

“This is Gerard’s mess, he can come and clean it up for himself,” Frank snapped, looking down at Mikey. “Come on Ray, let’s go.”

As Frank and Ray walked away, Frank pretended not to hear Mikey say softly, “You’re really not wrong there.”

~*~*~

As a ‘fuck you and your stay-in-after-sunset rule,’ Frank went over to Ray’s house after school. He would have liked to have said something to Mikey before school ended (quite possibly involving the words ‘fuck’ and ‘you’) but after lunch, Mikey apparently decided to skip the rest of the day. Still, Frank decided, it was the principle of the matter.

The evening at Ray’s was exactly what Frank needed to chill out. They watched a few old episodes of The Twilight Zone and jammed out on their guitars, and Frank tried not to gush too much to Ray about how grateful he was to have someone actually take his side over the whole mess with Gerard. He hadn’t wanted to force his friends to pick a side but if they naturally happened to pick _his_ side in the matter, then that was another thing entirely.

“It’s cool,” Ray said, ducking his head. “No offense man but you weren’t exactly subtle about your crush on him.”

Frank tried not to look too mortified. 

His spirits were considerably lighter by the time he left Ray’s. It was only a few minutes past nine and his curfew wasn’t till ten, so he took his time as he strolled down the familiar streets. The moon was high in the dark sky, only a few nights shy of being full; Frank couldn’t resist howling quietly at it and then giggling at how dumb he was being. Gerard had at thing for werewolves, he was always drawing comics involving them and practically knew the entire _Ginger Snaps_ script word for word...

Frank wasn’t grinning anymore. He’d stopped walking and was staring at the moon in the sky. The full moon could only be one or two days away. Gerard would know. He always knew the exact dates of the full moon. The moon was looking particularly horror movie-esque tonight, with the late-October chill clearing the skies of most but a few dark clouds scattered lazily across the sky. Frank wondered what Gerard was doing at that very moment and if he was looking at the moon too. 

With a heavy sigh, Frank hoisted his bag up his shoulder and carried on, looking firmly at the ground.

“You’re pathetic, Iero,” he muttered to himself. “You’re three shades off changing your name to Bella and writing angst-ridden poetry in a spiral-bound notebook.” 

Gerard wrote angst-ridden poetry in a spiral-bound notebook, Frank suddenly remembered. He and Mikey had mocked Gerard for it something chronic when they found out, asking if he’d started his periods yet either, although Frank had actually secretly been impressed – like his art, Gerard really had a way with words, creating something dark, haunting and slightly unsettling...

“Utterly pathetic,” Frank reiterated. 

It wasn’t until Frank was about to turn down the street that signalled he was ten minutes from his house that it happened; the hair on the back of his neck suddenly prickled and he was filled with an abrupt and alarming feeling that _he was not alone._

He stopped and looked around behind him but the street was completely deserted. 

“Huh,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “That’s... odd.” 

He turned back around, trying to ignore how the knot forming in his stomach when –

_SNAP!_

He spun around, his heart pounding. The lights were on in some of the nearby houses that lined the street but no signs of life.

“Hello?” he called out.

He wasn’t actually _expecting_ anyone to reply, so when someone answered with a cheerful “Hi!” Frank jumped about a foot in the air. 

“Who – who’s there?!” Frank tried to disguise how his voice had squeaked slightly as he looked around, his eyes straining into the darkness around him.

And then, stepping straight out the dark and into the streetlight, came four guys. They were all grinning in a seemingly friendly enough way but there was something inside of Frank that was screaming to run. 

Unfortunately, that part was completely overruled by the larger part that was completely paralyzed with fear. 

“Hey!” one of the guys said as they approached him. “I recognise your scent! You’re the alpha’s mate!!” 

Frank blinked, thrown by the fact that this was the second time he’d heard someone use the word ‘alpha’ in casual conversation, and came out with the most intelligent response of all time.

“Huh?”

Up close, they weren’t really all that intimidating. They didn’t look that old but they were dressed kinda oddly; all waistcoats and worn-in suits with eyeliner, and the one who’d already spoken was even wearing a top hat. 

“I think you’ve already met a friend of ours?” one of them said. “Pete? You’re.... Fred?”

“Frank,” Frank corrected. “Pete’s the short guy with the tattoos, right? Yeah, he... he said he was in town with a group of friends.”

“Sweet,” the same guy said. “Well, this is me and mine. I’m Brendon, and this is Ryan, Spencer and Jon.”

He gestured to each of the group as he said their names, who each waved in turn.

“And this,” Brendon said, stepping to the side to reveal a fifth person standing behind him, “is Justin.”

Justin was short, shorter even than Frank. He could only have been 13, maybe 14 at most. He didn’t look like he should be part of that group at all; Frank wondered if he was actually someone’s little brother tagging along.

“So... Frank,” Brendon continued. “We were looking for your mate. Pete was trying to locate him yesterday but with no joy –”

“You leave him alone,” Frank suddenly growled, taking even himself by surprise. He blinked, confused by the rush of protectiveness he suddenly felt over Gerard. This was just too weird on top of everything else. “Uh... I have to go.” 

“Friendly bunch we’ve got here,” Ryan muttered.

Frank had already turned to leave and was mentally picking out what Misfits album to play when he got home to suit his mood best when out of nowhere, Justin was in his path, blocking his way.

“Hey, you can’t do that!” he said and what the fuck, Frank thought, the kid’s voice hadn’t even broken yet. Frank stared at him in disbelief before wordlessly side-stepping around him and carrying on. 

“Hey!! I’m talking to you!!” Justin continued, sounding annoyed.

“Leave me alone,” Frank grumbled and carried on walking. He just wanted to be home and moping about Gerard in his room _alone_ , was that too much to ask for?

And then Justin suddenly appeared in from of him again, smiling, all teeth bared. Frank stopped dead in his tracks.

“For fuck’s sake, kid, move!!” he snapped.

“You’re not gonna play nice?” Justin asked, still smiling. 

It was at this point that Frank noticed just how _odd_ Justin’s teeth were. They were... not right. That was the best way Frank could put it; there was something not quite right with them, like he’d got too many. The more Frank stared at Justin’s teeth, fascinated with morbid revulsion, the stranger they looked. It was like they were lengthening... and sharpening... 

Frank yelled in horror and jumped back, crashing solidly into the other four guys who had surrounded him when he wasn’t looking. He looked up at them – and they were all smiling with the same mutilated teeth on display. 

“What _are_ you?!” Frank cried, crashing back into Justin as he tried to get away from them. Justin grabbed Frank’s arms in a shockingly strong vice-grip. Even through his clothes, Frank could feel the smaller boy’s skin was as cold as ice.

“Did your mate not tell you?!” Brendon asked incredulously. 

“Tell me what?!” Frank asked, unable to tear his eyes away from their teeth. The fear he was feeling right then went beyond any he’d experienced before. Any second now, his alarm would go off and he would wake up from this nightmare. Any second right about _now_ would be nice...

“We’re hungry, that’s what we are,” Justin said, spinning Frank around so he’d got Frank held tightly against his chest. Frank couldn’t even struggle, he was too frozen with fear and his mind jammed on _This isn’t happening. This can’t be real. There has to be a logical explanation for this..._

“Woah Justin wait, I thought we were just gonna scare him a bit,” Brendon suddenly said, sounding nervous.

“Yeah, are you sure this is a good idea?” Spencer asked. “I mean, he’s _marked._ The law says -”

“Rules are there to be broken!” Justin laughed. “And who made these laws anyway? The wolves, that’s who!! Come on, you guys said you were tired of the way things were – so let’s shake ‘em up!”

Frank was spun back around, still held tightly in the iron cage of Justin’s arms. His head was painfully yanked back by the hair and then Frank felt Justin’s breath against his throat. The others were staring at Frank’s throat with a hungry gleam in their red eyes, moving in closer.

Frank squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t want to see his own death.

He felt the scrape of teeth against his skin. 

There was a monstrous, furious growl that forced his eyes to open. Everything was a blur of movement but there was suddenly another set of hands on him, ripping him free from Justin’s iron grip. For one wild second, he thought his rescuer was (against all the odds) Gerard but then he realised it was Pete, with his arms safely pulling Frank to safety and his face twisted up in a furious snarl, his eyes red and his teeth –

Frank yelled and tried to pull away but Pete’s hand was clamped onto his shoulder in a death-grip. Pete growled slightly as Frank struggled, making him cease immediately. 

“Are you _insane_??” Pete was hissing to Justin and his gang. “What the fuck were you thinking?!? You know the laws, you can’t harm a marked human – and especially one that belongs to the fucking alpha!!” 

“Come on Pete, you know we weren’t really going to kill him! We were just gonna taste –” Brendon began but was silenced by another angry growl from Pete. 

“ **Harm** , Urie!” Pete snarled, emphasising the word. “The laws state you can’t **harm** him. That includes tasting, you cretin!!” 

Pete paused and looked at Frank.

“You OK, Frank? They didn’t hurt you, did they?” he asked, all anger immediately evaporated and replaced with genuine concern.

Frank shook his head and tried not to look at Pete’s teeth. Whose side was Pete on anyway? Pete was one of _them_ , he said he was with them... so why was he so worried about Frank?

“Good. I’m going to make sure you get home safe, OK Frank?” Pete said. 

“I’m not too far from here, I’ll be-” Frank began but the words died in his throat from the look Pete gave him. For a short guy, Pete was sure one hell of a scary motherfucker... though that could have been something to do with the terrifying monster teeth that he most certainly did _not_ have yesterday. 

“And as for you,” Pete continued, looking back up at the other five. “What happened to ‘lying low and staying out of trouble’?! Come on guys, you trying to incite a _war_?!” 

Brendon, Ryan, Spencer and Jon all suddenly looked uncomfortable but Justin stepped forward. 

“Well, maybe we are! Maybe we want our own town, our own permanent residence!” he snapped. 

Pete stared at Justin in complete disgust.

“And you all agree with him on this?” he asked, looking at Brendon. 

“I – I don’t kno–” Brendon stammered, but then Justin cut over him with a firm “Of course they do!”

There was an awkward silence. Frank tried not to fidget too much, despite that he really wanted to be getting the fuck out of there as fast as his short little legs could carry him. 

“Better pick a side soon, Pete.” Justin grinned widely. “Change is coming, it’s our time to shine. You won’t want to be playing the part of the pacifist when that happens. Frank!”

Frank flinched at his own name. “What?” he asked slowly.

Justin laughed. “Tell your mate he’d better be ready when the full moon rises tomorrow. We’ll wait until then. Come on guys, let’s go... leave Pete with his little marked pet.” 

And just like that, Justin turned around and ran off, doing that melting-into-the-darkness thing that Pete did last night. Jon, Spencer and Ryan all followed; Brendon paused and looked back at Pete with a conflicted expression on his face before he too turned and left. 

“Fucking Justin, he’s always doubted my commitment to Sparkle Motion,” Pete grumbled.

~*~*~

Pete walked Frank home in silence. It was a few minutes before Frank finally managed to voice the incredibly complicated thoughts in his head in one coherent sentence.

“They were vampires, weren’t they?”

Pete laughed, showing his teeth. Frank was incredibly relieved that they’d gone back to normal. 

“You caught that, huh?”

“And... you’re a vampire too.”

“Yeah, I am.” 

That was the easy part. 

“OK... So... what does this have to do with,” Frank swallowed the lump that always choked in his throat when he had to say the name. “With – with Gee?”

“Who’s Gee?” Pete asked.

“Gerard. He’s Mikey’s older brother – Mikey said you called him the ‘alpha’,” Frank said, making air quotations with his fingers. “I mean, he’s not a vampire – he doesn’t go out in the sun a lot, I’ll admit but he’s -”

“No, Gerard’s just a werewolf.” 

Frank stopped dead in his tracks. 

“What?” Pete sounded genuinely confused.

“Gerard’s a werewolf?!” Frank asked. He was so shocked that even the usual name-throat-lump failed to appear. 

“You didn’t know?” Pete’s eyebrows had shot up to his hairline. 

“No!!” 

“Huh. I wondered why Mikey was being all evasive in front of you guys... I just assumed he didn’t want you to know about the whole turf-war thing.”

“Turf-war?” Frank asked, and then a new thought occurred to him. “Wait, is Mikey a werewolf too??” 

Pete frowned. “Of course! Their entire family is. You know the whole ‘protectors of the town’ thing...” He trailed off at Frank’s expression. “Or you don’t.”

There was an awkward pause.

“OK, it’s too late for the full history lesson so you’re getting the crib-notes version,” Pete said impatiently. “Gerard and Mikey are werewolves and their family protects this town from impending vampire attacks and doom. As the alpha of the pack, Gerard’s their leader, so it’s his responsibility to keep this town and its inhabitants safe from harm. Seriously, did Gerard not tell you this?! You’re his mate!!”

In light of the whole werewolf revelation, the word ‘mate’ suddenly took on an _entirely_ new meaning. Frank’s eyes widened and he automatically took a step back from Pete.

“What?! No, we just had sex!! I’m not his – I’m not _that_! The whole mating thing, I mean, it’s... not me.”

Pete stared at him with an eyebrow raised. He sounded amused when he next spoke.

“Look, Frank, humans can’t see it but you’re marked. It’s a supernatural-being thing. If one of us – us, meaning a vampire or a werewolf - mates with a human, the human gets ‘marked’. And fuck knows what that moron Justin was blabbering on about, there are fucking _laws_ for both wolves and vampires that say you don’t harm these mortals!!”

“Laws?” Frank asked. “Vampires have laws?” 

“And werewolves too,” Pete corrected him. “The entire supernatural world has laws that legend says were handed down from Death himself. They were dictated to them to be based in myth and hide in the shadows.”

“Oh.”

Frank really couldn’t think of anything to say and they lapsed into silence as they carried on walking. His mind was still stuck on _I slept with a werewolf and nearly just got eaten by vampires._ Now that the scary part was over, it was actually kinda cool. He couldn’t wait to confront Mikey about it tomorrow. 

Wait, Mikey?

“Did Mikey know?” Frank asked. “About me and Gerard – about the whole ‘marking’ thing?”

“Of course!” Pete said, like it was obvious. “Mikey would have sensed it the minute he caught your scent. Speaking of, don’t ask me the exact science on it, I’m not sure how it works myself,” he said, correctly predicting Frank’s next question. “But basically, it’s like there’s something about you that gives out a scent that says ‘I am taken, hands off.’ And I’m not exaggerating, that’s actually how you smell to me. You’re tempting, I can smell your blood and you sure look tasty but there’s...” 

He trailed off and leaned in, pressing his nose to Frank’s neck. Frank froze but Pete was only smelling him. 

“You belong to someone else,” Pete said eventually as he pulled back. He started walking again before Frank realised and Frank had to quickly jog to catch him up. 

“But,” Frank asked, “Wouldn’t that mean that me and Gerard are... like... exclusively for each other?”

“Yeah, that it.”

Frank felt like he’d been kicked in the stomach. Pete didn’t even realise Frank had stopped walking this time until he turned around and saw Frank was standing a few feet behind him. 

“I think there’s been a mistake, Pete. I - I can’t be Gerard’s mate.”

“He’s been keeping a few secrets from you.” Pete laughed warmly. “You need to sit him down and have a long talk –”

“No, that’s the problem – he’s not talking to me. He left.”

Pete stared at Frank for what felt like hours.

“What do you mean, he left?” Pete eventually said in a very low voice. The danger-vibes that he’d been radiating during the encounter with Justin’s gang were suddenly back. 

“He- he went to art school about two months ago and I haven’t heard from him since!” Frank said, feeling the familiar burn on humiliation. “And it’s not even that he’s busy, he’s actively avoiding me.”

“Gerard’s.... gone??”

“Yeah.”

“FUCK.” 

Suddenly, Pete’s teeth were back into vampire mode and he let out a loud growl. 

“Fuck!!” he said again, looking agitated. The circles under his eyes had become more pronounced and his eyes were bloodshot. He looked more like a monster from a nightmare than a human. 

“Why? Why is it bad that Gee’s gone?” Frank shrieked, shaking madly. He was pacing wildly, his voice getting higher as he got more upset. “I don’t understand – I don’t understand any of this! How could Gerard have kept all this from me?! Or Mikey for that matter! And how did they –”

“Frank!” Pete barked, appearing less than an inch in front of Frank’s face in the space of a blink. Up close, his eyes were so bloodshot there was more red than white, his skin had more of a yellow, decayed look to it, and his breath stank of rotten meat –

“Frank!” Pete said again, and then, just like that, he was back to normal. Normal pale skin, normal eye-whites, normal breath, normal teeth. “Frank, calm down and listen to me. Sometimes life moves at a very rapid pace. If you stop and try to think it over, you’re going to get yourself killed. Now, you need to accept very quickly that your boyfriend is a werewolf and I’m a vampire and there’s about to be a very nasty war go down if we don’t act now. So, you think you can do that?”

Weirdly, Frank could. The revelation that vampires and werewolves existed wasn’t as much of a ‘the world as I knew it was a lie’ one as it was a quiet truth Frank had always known but forgotten until now. 

He nodded but something in his expression clearly still looked upset because in what was obviously an attempt to cheer him up, Pete then cheerfully asked, “So now that we’ve got that sorted... wanna meet Death?”

~*~*~

Pete drove Frank to a bar called ‘Underworld’ on the bad side of town. Although Frank had protested that he barely looked old enough to drive, let alone drink, Pete laughed and said Frank had all the ID he needed on his neck. Sure enough, the heavy-set doorman with impressive facial tattoos didn’t even bat an eyelash at Frank and Pete, instead just nodding at them and waving them through to skip past the huge line outside.

“Supernaturals get in free,” Pete explained. 

The club inside was dark with the only illumination being flashes of red breaking through from light beams in the ceiling and the dancefloor was filled with people dancing against each other to a loud bassline that made the floor vibrate. There were bars that lined the walls with neon green lights that made the barkeepers skin look strange, like they weren’t human, which Frank belated realised probably was the case. 

“Is everyone in here a – like you?” Frank asked. He wasn’t sure if it was good etiquette to mention someone’s vampiric nature in public. 

Pete laughed. “Nah, plenty of oblivious humans in here too. It’s nice to mingle sometimes. Stay close to me Frank; you won’t get hurt but people might start asking where your mate is if they think you’re by yourself.” 

Pete was totally Frank’s new best friend. Screw Mikey, Mikey would _never_ have brought Frank to a seedy, supernatural-creature-filled bar. Frank pressed close to Pete’s side and allowed himself to be led through the crowd towards a metal staircase that was blocked by yet another intimidating bouncer with swirling designs tattooed all over his face. Upon seeing Pete, he wordlessly stood aside, letting them past.

As they walked into the VIP lounge, Pete was immediately swallowed up in a massive hug by an incredibly tall and thin guy in a red suit.

“Pete!!” the guy said as he pulled away. “Bob said you were coming along tonight! He didn’t say you were bringing a friend though...” 

The guy cast an apprising eye up and down Frank critically. 

“Hmm,” he said thoughtfully. “The potential’s there...”

“Gabe, leave the kid alone!” said another guy in a vaguely British accent, appearing from out of nowhere next to them. This guy was equally as tall and thin as Gabe but he was dressed very casually in jeans and a plain white t-shirt, and he had long, shoulder-length brunette hair that framed a very pretty face. Frank hoped he hadn’t jumped too noticeably at his appearance; he was starting to get a bit fed up with this whole super-speed thing that everyone he’d met tonight had. 

“I’m Bill,” the guy continued, shaking Frank’s hand. “And this bozo here is Gabe. Don’t listen to him or take any of his suggestions to heart, you’ll only regret them in the morning.”

“Ahh Bill, lighten up! It’s not a sin to enjoy your life! Anyway, we’re off duty!” Gabe said laughing before turning to Frank. “So, kid, want a drink? On me!” 

Frank was about to reply when Pete said quickly “Is the big guy around? Poor Frank here’s had a bit of a rough night, I thought he might be able to cheer him up a bit.”

“Oh, you poor thing!!” Bill said, suddenly enveloping Frank in a warm hug that smelt of vanilla and candy floss. He let Frank go eventually, keeping one hand on Frank’s left shoulder, completely unaware that there was anything wrong with hugging someone you’d only just met. He pointed a finger at Gabe with a warning look. “Gabe, I’m serious – no _funny_ business tonight, this poor soul’s at the end of his tether.”

Gabe held up his hands with an innocent “me?” look. 

“Come on Frank, Death’s down here,” he said, lightly taking Frank’s right arm.

~*~*~

Death turned out to be a big burly blond guy with impressive stubble, who also happened to go by the name of Bob.

“Bob the Grim Reaper?” Frank asked, unable to hide the smirk as they were introduced.

“Smart ass,” Bob said, gripping Frank’s hand. “Don’t think I’m above ending you right now because nothing’s set in stone!”

Frank jumped back like he’d been electrocuted, making both Pete and Gabe laugh. 

“Don’t worry, that just means he likes you,” Pete whispered.

“So, Frank,“ Gabe said, settling down on the seat opposite Bob and gesturing for Frank to join. “Pete says you’re new to the world.”

Frank opened his mouth to protest and then realised that yeah, he kinda was, so instead, he shrugged and slid down the seat next to Gabe. Pete sat down next to Frank, his cold skin brushing up against Frank’s bare arm in complete contrast to the heat that was radiating off Gabe. 

“It sucks that you had to find out about it at such a bad time,” Pete said, patting Frank’s arm, making him feel like he’d immediately plunged it into a bucket of ice. “Normally there’s all kinds of cool shit going down around October, especially when the full moon falls on Halloween.”

A jolt of surprise suddenly ran through Frank. 

Halloween. His birthday. What with everything that happened recently, he’d completely forgotten about it. 

He was about to ask if there was some kind of significance about his birthday and the whole werewolf-mating thing when Bill returned from the bar carrying several drinks collected in his hands. He handed them out to everyone on the table before sitting down next to Bob. Frank had a sneaking suspicion he knew what the deep red liquid in Pete’s glass was but had no idea what could possibly be in Bob’s drink to turn it jet black and produce smoke. He took a cautious sip of his own drink and was slightly relieved to discover it was just a coke. 

“If you want some rum or whiskey in that, let me know,” Gabe said in an undertone to Frank when Bill wasn’t listening. 

“Uh, thanks?” Frank said. Gabe was probably just being friendly but Frank had only just met him and even if he knew Pete, Frank still wasn’t sure if he trusted him entirely.

Gabe shrugged. “No problem, little _querido_. If you change your mind –”

“So are you and Bill Death too?” Frank asked quickly, trying to change the subject.

“Not quite,” Gabe said, looking thoughtful. “Maybe? Depends on your belief system. I guess you could call me and Bill... Upper and Lower Management? There’s a few other managers out there but... eh, they’re not so big on the partying.” 

Frank blinked. Oh. 

“Does that make Bob –“ he began but was cut off.

“I’m Death,” Bob said. “It’s that simple.” He took a mouthful of his drink and grinned at Frank, his eyes glinting. For a split second, Frank thought he saw something in them, something endless and ageless, powerful beyond anything Frank could even comprehend.

“It’s your basic hierarchy system.” Pete explained, forcing Frank away from Bob’s gaze. He pointed to Bob. “Death.” He pointed to Bill and Gabe. “Management.” He pointed to himself. “Vampire. On the same level, your friend, Mikey – Werewolf.” 

“Then human?” Frank asked, pointing to himself. 

“You’re a little bit more than that,” Pete said, giving a funny hand gesture. “You’re now classified as ‘Marked Human’. Your friend with the hair – what was his name? Ray? He’s just ‘human’.” 

Frank snorted. “Wow, what an upgrade.” He couldn’t keep the bitterness out his voice. “All marked up and no one to blow.”

He had a brief moment of panic as soon as he said this because - fuck, was he supposed to keep his language respectful around Bill and Gabe?! - but then Gabe laughed and Bill and Pete both gave Frank sympathetic looks, so he figured it was probably OK.

“Tough break kid,” Bob said. He took a mouthful of his weird smoking drink. “So, wanna hear one of the big secrets of the universe?” 

It was blatantly an attempt to change the subject but Frank perked up immediately. 

“Hell yeah!”

“Bob...” Bill said warningly. 

Bob smirked. “Gather round, I shall tell you all... the grandest of mysteries... of why vampires and werewolves hate each other!”

Frank’s eyebrows went way up because – seriously? _Cool._ He noticed Bill and Gabe looked notably relieved.

“Oh no, not this,” Pete muttered. 

Bob laughed. “Yes this! The kid’s in the middle of a freaking war. He should at least know why it’s going on!” 

“It’s just rumours,” Pete said to Frank. Frank wasn’t sure if it was his imagination or if Pete suddenly looked embarrassed. 

“It can’t be _that_ bad,” Frank said. He turned to Bob. “Come on, tell me!” 

“Yeah, come on Bob, tell us!” Gabe said, joining in with enthusiasm.

“Alright,” Bob said, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table. “Well... Frank, as you might have guessed, there’s a bit of animosity between vampires and werewolves.”

“Even humans picked up on it,” Gabe said. “So many films and books...” He shot a nasty look at Bill. “Twilight was _his_ fault.”

“What?!” Bill said innocently, blinking. “I just thought it was time for an alternate interpretation.”

Pete groaned and buried his face in his hands as Bob laughed. 

“Anyway,” Bob said. “Things have mostly calmed down between wolves and vampires but way back when, back in the Dark Ages, things got out of hand –”

“ _Catastrophically_ out of hand,” Gabe added, raising his glass to Bill, who nodded in agreement. 

“So I stepped in and gave them all a friendly reminder that I’d start visiting them all a lot sooner if they didn’t knock that shit off,” Bob continued. “And not by my own choice either. It took them long enough to figure it out but they got there in the end – if they kept fighting the way they did, they’d only end up wiping themselves out. And just to be extra certain, I lay down a few laws for them to abide by as punishment.”

“Hold on, wait,” Frank said, holding up his hand. “I keep hearing all this stuff about laws. What are they exactly?”

“There’s a few that go into details but mainly, it’s fairly simple,” Pete said, finally looking up from his hands. “Don’t draw attention to the supernatural world by wars or whatnot and don’t harm marked humans.” 

“Why are humans so special?” Frank asked.

“Because,” Bob said bluntly. “Your lot can barely keep yourselves alive _without_ getting mixed up with vampires, wolves, fairies and everything else out there.”

“Yeah, if humans found out about this world en masse, think about how it would go down,” Gabe said darkly. 

“Especially considering your species penchant for war amongst yourselves and fighting _any_ kind of change,” Bill added, tossing his hair back off his shoulder. “Your lot are still barely coming round to the idea of homosexual marriage, how well do you think the concept of mating with a different species would be taken?!”

For the first time in his life, Frank suddenly felt very ashamed to be human. 

“Supernatural beings had to be a little more tightly policed anyway,” Pete said, wiping some red off the corner of his mouth. “What with all the ‘differing special abilities’ thing and as you’ve found out, the tendency to mate with humans, so the rules are a little stricter for us.” 

“Most Supers follow along with no complaints.” Bob downed the remnants of his drink. “There’s been peace between the Fey Courts for about a thousand years now which is a new record for them, and barring the occasional spat or individual who tries to start a war – like that fucker Bieber –” (Bob’s face suddenly darkened and he spat out the name like it was a disgusting swear. It took Frank a few seconds to realise that he probably meant Justin) “- _Most_ generally get along.”

“OK,” Frank nodded. “But then why –”

“Up up bah, I’m not finished!” Bob cut him off. (Frank shrank back in his seat slightly.) “So, as I was saying, back to the main point – most creatures live in a general state of vague peace but there’s always this underlying rivalry that none of them can ignore.” 

Pete snorted. “Only if you’re petty enough like Justin to let it get to you. Most just ignore it.”

“But what is _it_?” Frank pressed. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Gabe topping up his coke with a dark liquid from a hipflask. He ignored this.

“Simply?” Bob grinned. “It’s jealousy. Vampires and werewolves can’t stand each other because both species have something that the other side wants.”

Bill swiped Frank’s glass out of Gabe’s reach and took a large gulp, hiding his smirk with the glass as he locked eyes with Gabe. Pete, meanwhile, was positively _squirming_ uncomfortably in his seat next to Frank.

“So what are they jealous about?” Frank asked, confused. “I mean, both seem like pretty cool options.”

“Well, wolves don’t like us because their powers aren’t consistent,” Pete said quickly, speaking before Bob could open his mouth. He downed the remainder of his red drink and shuddered slightly. “Ick, tap. Anyway, yeah. Wolves get super-human strength that puts them above vampires. We’re faster but they’re stronger, and they’re more resilient to damage than we are... but they only transform for one night each month - and it’s meant to be quite fucking _painful_ as far as transformations go - and the rest of the time, they’re stuck in human form with only vague hints of their full powers.” 

Frank thought about Mikey and Gerard, about how they always seemed so in sync, like how Gerard always seemed to instinctively _know_ who was about to walk down the basement stairs and how neither of them ever seemed to get hangovers. He suddenly remembered how Mikey had reacted when he first met Pete; the wind had changed as he’d come outside. He must have caught Pete’s vampire scent. 

_Cool._

“Plus,” Pete continued, oblivious to Frank’s mini-revelations, “Coz of the whole ‘human form 90% of the time’ thing, werewolves – well, they live longer and age slower than your average human but they’re still mortal. They really don’t like that we’re immortal.” 

“You can’t die? At all!?” Frank’s eyes bulged. Wow.

“Yup!” Pete grinned. “We don’t age either – I’ve had this gorgeously youthful face since the 1700’s.”

“Holy fuck,” Frank breathed. Pete was, like, over 300 years old. 

Bob cleared his throat pointedly.

“Well,” Pete admitted. “We can’t die... but that doesn’t mean we can’t be killed. Most of us get bored after a few hundred years and off ourselves anyway.” 

“And I’m always there to greet them with a big smile,” Bob said. “That’s how I know this fucker.” He gestured to Pete with a nod of his head. “He called for me in the 1920’s but then changed his mind at the last minute.” 

“And it’s been a beautiful friendship since,” Pete said, fluttering his eyelashes at Bob. Bob raised an eyebrow in a seriously unimpressed look. 

“Why’d you change your mind?” Frank asked before he could stop himself.

“Jazz music,” Bob said flatly as Gabe and Bill laughed. Even Pete was smiling at this. Frank didn’t quite get the joke but he had more pressing questions. 

“So is that why vampires don’t like wolves? Because they _can_ die?” he asked.

“Not exactly,” Bob said with a nasty smirk at Pete. “It’s because werewolves can fuck and they can’t.”

There was a pause.

Frank wasn’t sure who started laughing first. He suspected it was Gabe but it could have easily been Frank himself. Pete was scowling, arms folded and a face like thunder. 

“It’s not _that_ funny,” he said but his voice was lost amongst the laughter. 

“It’s one of the crueller design features of their lives,” Bill said, wiping a tear of mirth from his eye. “Best one we’ve had for a while. Immortality, super speed, strength and fantastic physique and at the cost of a severe sunlight allergy and a broken penis.” 

“It’s not like we _miss_ it,” Pete protested. “Intellectual conversation is _far_ more stimulating –”

“Oh come on,” Gabe said. “If you could jerk Patrick off, you totally would!” 

Pete scowled. 

“At least you don’t sparkle?” Frank offered and decided not to ask who Patrick was.

“Fair point,” Pete shrugged. “Incidentally, if you’re wondering, we pretty much just burst into flames in the sun. No young-adult highschool romance novel for me, nope.” 

Frank honestly wasn’t sure if Pete looked depressed or relieved at this. Pete opened his mouth to say something else but was interrupted by Bill noticing that everyone’s drinks were empty. He got up to get more which resulted in Gabe literally climbing over the table to join him at the bar, yelling “Shots! You owe me shots!!” 

There was a comfortable silence as Frank looked from Bob to Pete. 

“So how do humans fit in all this?” he asked.

Bob tapped the side of his face with a finger thoughtfully. “Well, you have the shortest life spans and you’re _incredibly_ breakable but you get to go in the sunlight and you don’t get your lives dictated by the moon or your pack... plus the whole sex thing, as Wentz here is so quick to try and pretend he doesn’t miss.” 

“Believe it or not, humans probably have the best deal,” Pete said, shooting a filthy look at Bob. He gave Frank a playful nudge with his ice-cold elbow. “No major benefits but no hardcore downsides either, barring your kind’s fondness for self-destruction and war.” 

Frank let this sink in as he looked over to the bar. Bill was leaning over to order the drinks when Gabe slapped his ass. Instead of turning around and yelling at him as Frank had expected, Bill giggled and went slightly pink. 

Huh. Interesting.

“Humans make the best mates,” Pete said, starring off dreamily. “That’s why so many supers go for them and why the laws about not harming them was introduced... too many fights and battles with innocent humans getting caught up in the mix.”

Frank nodded. 

“And is it just you who enforces the laws?” he asked, looking at Bob.

“Mostly,” Bob shrugged. “Bill and Gabe help out occasionally if it looks like something’s about to get messy.”

“Wow,” Frank murmured. He didn’t want to ask if Bill and Gabe were around to help out with the current situation in his town. Instead, he traced random pattern with his finger in the drink splashes on the table. “So many laws...”

“Yeah well, that’s just for vampires and werewolves,” Pete said with a grin. “We haven’t even got started on the Fey, ghosts or zombies! You should get your mate to go through all this with you when he gets back.” 

_Mate._ Frank felt his stomach clench and everything he’d blissfully forgotten briefly came back. 

He still wasn’t sure if he believed it or not. The idea that Gerard was _his_ and for him exclusively was fucking _wonderful_ but Gerard’s actions suggested he didn’t agree. What if Gerard didn’t _want_ him as a mate? Maybe Gerard had realised Frank was his mate and had been so repulsed by the idea that he’d run as far as he could? Was it even possible to break up with your mate?

“Wassup?” Pete asked, peering at Frank worriedly. “You have ‘dead puppy on Christmas Day’ face.”

Frank sighed. “I didn’t think mating involved angst and deliberate separation.” 

“It doesn’t,” Bob said bluntly as Gabe and Bill rejoined them with a fresh round of drinks for everyone. Frank took a sip of his and automatically tasted the rum in his coke – clearly, Gabe had been in charge of this round. “But give him some credit – to intentionally leave you like that probably must have felt akin to dying, and that’s not an exaggeration either.” 

“Gerard’s trying to fight his fate,” Pete explained, wrapping a comforting arm around Frank’s shoulders. Frank automatically rested his head against Pete’s, grateful for the comfort and ignoring the surprised looks from Gabe and Bill. “It’s stupid and incredibly selfish on his part – especially as he left without even telling you what the fuck you were part of.”

“Kinda all goes back to why you need to get him to come back,” Gabe said, giving Frank a sympathetic nod and pushing his drink closer towards him. “Aside from the fact that it’s making you utterly miserable, he’s the only one who could put a stop to Justin.” 

Frank raised an eyebrow, not lifting his head off Pete’s shoulder. 

“OK, well, we _could_ stop things,” Bill said, getting Frank’s look. “But we try to stay out of things unless it’s utterly dire.” He shrugged. “I guess you could say it’d be fitting punishment for him if his mate got killed because he was being too immature to face his responsibility.” 

“Dude!” Even Gabe looked horrified. “Tact, motherfucker, do you speak it?!” 

Bill looked amused. The glow around him that Frank had first noticed suddenly seemed brighter, throwing his face into sharp shadows and making him look devastatingly inhuman and dangerous. “I’m just saying!” 

“You know, you keep going on about there being some kind of war,” Frank said, slouching back in his seat. “But from my count, it’ll be – what, five vampires vs one werewolf? Not exactly what I’d call the Battle of Helms Deep.”

“You _say_ that,” Pete said, suddenly the most serious Frank had ever seen him. “But that’s how these things always start, and you’d be surprised how quickly they can escalate. Say Justin takes this town – he’s young and fresh, he’d think ‘well that was easy, let’s take another.’ He’d go along, getting more and more followers and getting more and more powerful until – boom. New Jersey is overrun with vampires. The remaining wolves pull in friends from other cities and states to help out but in retaliation, the vampires do the same and then it’s pretty much all out war.”

“It’s happened before,” Gabe added. “And it’s not pretty. Eventually the humans start to notice all the supernatural shit going down so they try to do something about it – and this time around, you’re a lot better equipped.”

“And while we’re immortal, we’re certainly not bullet-proof,” Pete said. “And from what I’ve heard, wolves don’t exactly relish in taking silver bullets to the head. Apparently they’re kinda lethal.” 

“Alright, alright, I get it,” Frank said. “Death, doom and destruction.” 

He sat up and downed his drink in two gulps, a new determination suddenly rushing through him. Enough was enough. Gerard was his mate and that was that. He could keep trying to run from it but he owed Frank a decent explanation at the very least! He was going to get Gerard back and not waste any more time –

Time?

“Oh my God!” Frank suddenly shrieked, scrabbling around his pocket for his phone, which had been on silent the whole time. There were 12 missed calls from his Mom. “I’m way past curfew! My Mom’s gonna kill me!!”

“No she’s not,” Bob automatically said. “You’re not down to die tonight.”

~*~*~

Frank didn’t sleep very well that night. Pete had carried him home using his super-vampire speed to get him back in under five minutes and quickly got him in through his bedroom window on the first floor so as not to disturb his Mom (which was _awesome_ ) but after he’d gone, Frank couldn’t get his brain to shut down. He’d pulled on his pyjamas, climbed into bed and pulled the blankets up over his head, trying to sleep, but every time he closed his eyes, his brain supplied images of the things he’d seen in the past 24 hours. He saw Mikey’s pale face. Bob, Bill and Gabe toasting a cheer to the end of humanity. Pete’s _teeth_. Justin’s snarling expression and his hot breath on his throat against the exact same spot that Gerard had loved to kiss and bite down on -

“You like it when I do that, Frankie?” 

Frank had groaned, closing his eyes and his back arching off the cool bathroom tiles, pressing into Gerard’s hot touch. Gerard’s lips were exploring the soft skin where neck met shoulder, lightly nipping it with his teeth making Frank’s head spin. Frank’s toes curled and one of his legs hooked around Gerard’s, tangling them together. 

“Oh, you fucking love it,” Gerard said in that low voice that made the hairs on the back of Frank’s neck stand up. He grinned as Frank’s hands scrabbled to his shoulders, gripping tightly. 

“Please, Gerard – please,” Frank groaned. He couldn’t even bring himself to care about volume control, or that Ray and Mikey were only on the other side of the door, or just how badly he was pleading. All he knew was that he needed Gerard – needed him _right now_ , more than he’d ever done for anyone in his life. 

Gerard’s tongue traced a line up the tendons in Frank’s neck and then, supporting his weight on one arm, used his free hand to grip Frank’s wrists and pin them above his head on the floor. 

“Ge-raard –” Frank began but Gerard silenced him with a fierce kiss. Frank could only respond by pushing up against Gerard above him, savouring the burn of hot skin on hot skin with the slick of sweat between them. Gerard’s towel had long ago been abandoned and Frank’s own pyjamas were discarded somewhere, thrown carelessly to the side. 

Gerard broke the kiss, their lips separated only by millimetres. 

“Mine,” Gerard growled. His hand was no longer gripping Frank’s wrists and was instead tracing lightly down the side of Frank’s face, down his neck, across his chest, down his side... Frank’s hips jerked upwards almost as if in anticipation.

“Mine,” Gerard repeated, kissing Frank roughly. 

“Yours...”

Frank’s fingertips were gripping and slipping useless against the lino.

“Always, Gee,” he said, his voice sounding too loud. “Yours. Always.” 

His hands gripped his bed sheets and he rolled over, twisted and tangled in the covers, waking up sweating and shivering and completely rock hard. Without even thinking about it, he was reaching down, kicking the sheets off and sticking his hand down his pants. He grabbed his dick and started jerking off, desperate and frantic. It barely seemed to take anything before he was coming hard, crying out as his orgasm hit him with all the force of a train. 

For a few seconds, Frank lay on his back, gasping for air. With a shaking hand, he pushed his sweaty hair off his face, the smell of sex so overwhelming that he almost gagged. His breath hitched in his chest and suddenly, he spluttered, coughed – and then he was crying. 

He curled up on his side, pressing his face into his pillow to try and muffle the sounds in case he woke up his Mom. For him, her hearing him jerk off wasn’t nearly as embarrassing as her hearing him cry because with crying, she might think it was something serious and come to help. The material was soon damp and unpleasantly hot but he kept his face buried in it until he could barely breathe.

Fuck, _Gerard._ He missed him so badly that it was a physical pain in his chest. They were supposed to fucking _be_ together so why had Gerard just up and left him like that?

Although Frank didn’t sleep properly for the rest of the night, he became aware of drifting in and out of consciousness, of the light streaming through the window getting consistently lighter. He heard his Mom get up and leave for work on the early shift, creeping around the house quietly so as not to disturb him. His own door squeaked open as she checked in on him to make sure he’d come back but she didn’t attempt to wake him up and Frank remained on his side, facing the wall and away from her. He couldn’t talk to her, not yet. She’d have so many questions and he wasn’t even sure he had all the answers. 

He heard her footsteps fade down the hall and her closing the front door as gently as she could behind her, and then the fading rumble of her car driving away down the road. 

Frank rolled onto his back once he was certain she was gone and stared up at the ceiling, wide awake. 

Werewolves. Vampires. Turf wars. Death. 

_Mikey._

~*~*~

“So when were you going to tell me that your brother’s a werewolf?”

Frank had planned everything out perfectly. He was going to grab Mikey in the corridor at school and demand to speak to him in private around the back of the bike sheds. There, he would rationally and calmly explain that he knew everything and was _totally_ cool with it all, but that it was now imperative that they got Gerard back home due to impending vampire war and potential doom of humanity. 

What happened instead was that the second he saw Mikey’s stupid fucking face with his stupid fucking glasses and stupid fucking scenester hair, all calm and rational went completely flying out the window. Mikey had fucking _known_ \- not just about the whole werewolf-mating thing but also Frank’s feelings for Gerard beforehand... and he’d still done nothing.

And so, instead, Frank had marched up to him in the middle of the crowded corridor and demanded to know the truth. 

Mikey blinked and looked around in horror.

“Not _here_ , dumbass!!” he hissed.

“Fuck that!!” Frank said, his temper flaring. The lack of sleep was not doing his short-fuse any favours. “You keep pushing me away with this! Every time I try to talk to you about thing, you clam up or change the subject! You’re supposed to be my _best friend_ , Mikey, and you didn’t tell me jack-shit, even when you _knew_ this shit was getting serious!!” 

One of the jocks passing by snorted and muttered “fags” but Frank ignored him.

“Frank, I – I – I _couldn’t_ ,” Mikey eventually said through gritted teeth. “This is Gerard’s mess, I don’t want to get – ”

The bell signalling the start of first period suddenly rang. In barely a minute, the entire corridor went from overcrowded to completed deserted, save for Frank and Mikey. Frank waited until he heard the last door slam.

“I nearly got my throat torn out by a bunch of vampires last night, I don’t fucking care what you want,” Frank said in a low voice.

Mikey’s eyes went comically large behind his glasses lenses. “What?! But you’re – they shouldn’t have done that to _you_ -”

“Because I’m marked as Gerard’s mate, I know,” Frank said carelessly with a wave of his hand. “You know, it would have been nice to have known all this **before** I found myself up to my ass in mythological bullshit!” 

Mikey said nothing but for some reason, he couldn’t seem to meet Frank’s eyes anymore. It suddenly occurred to Frank that Mikey was looking even skinnier than usual, to the point that his uniform seemed a few sizes too big and there were bags under his eyes that even his thick-rimmed glasses were struggling to conceal. 

“I can’t – I don’t know what to do,” Mikey said quietly. “Helena used to be the alpha. She would have taken care of this all in an instant.” 

Frank felt a twinge of surprise at the mention of Mikey and Gerard’s grandmother. She’d died last year and both of them had been hit pretty hard by it, Gerard in particular. For weeks, he hadn’t left the basement, choosing to lock himself away and drink himself into a permanent drunken haze. It hadn’t been a particularly fun time for anyone. 

“We need Gerard,” Frank said, grabbing Mikey by the shoulders and forcing him to look at him. “Call him and tell him –”

“I have!” Mikey said, sounding irritated. “Don’t you think I wasn’t on the phone to him the second after we met Pete?! He doesn’t want to know and he ordered me not to tell him anymore about it!”

“So what? He might not want to hear it but –”

“No, you don’t get it,” Mikey said. He sighed and rolled his eyes. “It’s a pack thing. He’s my alpha. I can’t disobey direct orders from him.” He paused. “I suppose I might as well tell you now – he also ordered me not to talk to him about you either. Like, nothing. No updates on how you were doing, no me telling him what a dick he’s being and no passing on any messages either.” He rolled his eyes again. “Don’t you think if I _had_ been able to, I would have been yelling at him and getting him to talk to you?!” 

“Oh,” Frank said, stunned by this new piece of information. “Well, how was I supposed to know you meant it literally when you said you couldn’t talk about it?!”

He was grinning as he said this and the corner of Mikey’s mouth twitched in a hint of a smirk but then it was gone.

“I seriously don’t know what to _do_ , Frank,” he said. “I can’t take on an entire vampire clan, not by myself.” 

“Pete seems alright actually,” Frank said, and then quickly explained in a bit more detail the events that had taken place the previous night. Mikey listened in silence, his arms folded. 

“... so to be honest, I think Pete might have been quite serious about the whole ‘coming in peace’ thing. It was more that Justin-fucker who wanted to try and kill me – even the other vampires like Brendon seemed a little confused about what to do. I’d try and find Pete, I think he’s trying to avoid a war as much as you are,” Frank finished.

Mikey nodded. 

“What about your parents?” Frank suggested. 

“No, they’ll be no use.” Mikey shook his head. “They’re not wolves. For whatever reason, it skipped them. For ages, it was just me, Helena and Gee, but now she’s dead, he’s gone and I’m not the alpha, Frank, I can’t do this! I don’t have the authority or – well - _anything_ to stop these guys and because of Gee’s fucking orders I can’t even _tell_ him –”

“Mikey,” Frank said, cutting across his rambling. A plan had formed in his head. “OK, here’s what we’re doing. You’re going to go to class and at lunch, you’re going to find Ray and tell him everything about what’s going down. If there’s a war, we need to let everyone who might get caught up in things up to speed in case they launch another attack, and Ray’s not even marked so they probably wouldn’t hesitate to kill him.”

Mikey nodded. Frank wasn’t sure if it was because he had some link with the alpha or if Mikey just needed someone to tell him what to do but he was following Frank’s orders with amazing complicity. Normally, he’d be questioning everything and offering a plan that involved as minimal effort as possible. 

“And you’re also going to give me Gerard’s college address,” Frank added.

Mikey rolled his eyes. “You’re not seriously –”

“Of course not,” Frank said. “I can’t even drive. While you’re filling Ray in on all this at lunch, I’m going to FedEx Gee an emergency letter and make sure he gets it today.” 

He made Mikey write the address down twice in his neatest, most legible handwriting and double-check it over to make sure it was correct. Satisfied, Frank folded it up carefully and tucked it in his back pocket. 

“OK. We should probably get to class, we’re really fucking late,” he said with a grin, looking at his watch. 

“Yeah,” Mikey nodded. “We’re probably going to get about a weeks worth of detention at this rate.”

He turned to go to the classroom.

“Hey dude, go on ahead,” Frank said, taking a step back. “I’ve gotta go to the bathroom, let them know I’m on my way, OK?”

Mikey gave him a look.

“Seriously?” he said. 

“What?!” Frank said innocently. “I have to pee.” 

Mikey shook his head in disbelief. “Come round mine before sundown, OK? And I mean _before_ sunset – it’s a full moon tonight.” 

“Am I going to see you wolf-out?” Frank couldn’t keep the excitement out his voice.

Mikey rolled his eyes. 

“Fine fine, I get it,” Frank said. “Be there before sunset. On it.”

He gave Mikey a small salute before turning around and jogging off down the corridor.

~*~*~

Frank was slightly disappointed to discover that hitchhiking was not at all as dangerous as he’d been led to believe. It took three car swap overs to get there but as the final car dropped him off at edge of Gerard’s campus, he watched it leave with a sinking sense of disappointment at how _that_ was the deadly, scary thing his Mom had ordered him to never do.

Perhaps it was something to do with narrowly escaping dying horribly at the fangs of vampires or general new proximity to a secret war or even meeting Death himself and discovering he was actually a pretty cool guy, but Frank suspected that his perception of “danger” had altered significantly. 

That said, it still took him a good five minutes of shifting awkwardly from foot to foot outside Gerard’s dorm room to work up the courage to finally knock. He finally hammered on the wood, wincing as he heard the blaring rock music on the other side suddenly cut off. 

What was he going to say?! _Hey Gerard, you dickhead, about that whole mating thing you didn’t tell me about..._

The door opened to reveal... not Gerard.

Frank stared at the short guy in confusion. He had long scraggly hair and smelled someone who’d been on a permanent bender. 

“Uh, hi,” Frank said, feeling incredibly awkward. 

“Hey,” the dude said, standing comfortably in the doorframe and giving Frank a friendly grin. “You here for the party? It’s not starting till way later but if you wanna come in, I’ve got some -”

“I’m looking for Gerard. Gerard Way?” Frank said quickly. “Does he live here? I’m Frank, I’m his –”

He paused. 

“Friend,” he finished lamely. 

The guy gave Frank a disparaging look up and down. 

“Bert,” he said, holding out his hand as an introduction. “His – ” He paused and smirked. “Roommate.” 

“So you know Gerard then?” Frank asked, a little stupidly. 

Bert let out a nasty laugh and winked. “Oh I _know_ Gerard, alright.” 

This was totally _not_ what Frank wanted to hear right now and before he could stop himself, he’d let out this hideously possessive growl. He immediately clasped his hand to his mouth in horror but it seemed to have worked because Bert immediately backed up, holding his hands up and hastily saying “Woah, sorry little dude, I was kidding! He’s got class at the moment but he should be back soon – you wanna come in and hang?”

As friendly as Bert seemed, Frank didn’t want to ‘hang’ but he also didn’t really have a choice. He gritted his teeth and forced his face into something that he hoped resembled a smile and nodded. 

“Cool,” Bert said with a nod, standing aside and letting him in. “So, how you know the G-man?” 

Frank looked around the dingy dorm room and tried not to wrinkle his nose too much at the wall of stench that hit him as he stepped over the threshold. Stale cigarette smoke, unwashed clothes and booze seemed to be the overall fragrance but there were hints of turpentine and paint underlying it all. Frank tried to focus on that instead. 

“From home,” Frank said, trying not to give too much away. 

“Oh, so you’re from Dead-ville?” Bert asked, looking interested. He shut the front door behind and gestured to the unmade bed on the far side of the room which was clearly Gerard’s from the comics, clothes and random sketchbooks thrown over and around it. “Man, Gerard _hates_ that place, said he couldn’t get out of there quick enough.” 

“He hasn’t –” Frank paused, and then decided ‘fuck it’ to his dignity. “Has he ever said anything about me before?”

Bert shook his head. “Sorry little dude, never heard of anything about a Frank.” To Bert’s credit, he sounded genuinely sympathetic. “He’s pretty quiet about things though – most I could ever gather was something about his Gran dying and that the town sucked.”

“Sounds about right,” Frank nodded. He awkwardly shuffled over to Gerard’s bed and sat down gingerly on the edge – the room was in a _way_ worse state than the basement back in Belleville had ever been. He tried not to sit on any of the discarded tissues scattered on the bedclothes because fucking _gross_. There was a bin like two feet away, was it really that hard to at least aim them in that direction?! 

“Anyway little dude,” Bert said (which he’d clearly adopted as Frank’s nickname and Frank actually felt was a bit rich coming from a guy who was only about an inch taller than him anyway). “I gotta run – big party tonight and there’s a rather bad lack of supplies here. You cool with just chilling here?” 

Frank nodded, looking around the room. It was like something out CSI as one of the rooms where a hooker would be found dead under the bed. He made a mental note to never let his own college room get that bad. 

_If_ he ever made it college, what with this whole war going on. Bill had outright stated that he wasn’t above letting Frank die, so there went his hope of having help from above on his side. 

“Gerard should be back soon – I think he’s got some beers in the fridge, so help yourself,” Bert added, pointing to a fridge at the foot of Gerard’s bed. Frank nodded again, and then with a friendly wave Bert left, letting the door swing shut behind him. Frank had a feeling that Bert’s need for supplies might more have been spurned on by Frank’s abrupt appearance at their door but whatever. This was easier to deal with than making awkward small talk, for which Frank was grateful. 

For about ten minutes, at least. Then he just got bored. 

He decided to have a snoop through Gerard’s things but that yielded bitterly unsurprising results. The fridge was predictably empty except for a lump of cheese, something mysterious and covered in green fuzz and two bottles of beer. With a heavy sigh, he shut the fridge and tried not to feel too jaded at the fact that Gerard had taped up a picture of Mikey and Ray on there but not one of him. The various sketchbooks contained Gerard’s usual comic-style drawings of horror movie monsters and even one little comic about a werewolf who didn’t want to be a wolf anymore so he went on the search for a cure, which Frank couldn’t help rolling his eyes at a little because, really, Gerard? Really??

Swearing under his breath, he pushed the sketchbooks off the bed and let them clatter to the floor, feeling a sense of satisfaction at how some of the pages got caught and folded over where they landed. Fuck this, and fuck Gerard, he thought bitterly, curling up in the nest of blankets and dirty clothes. He was totally giving him a massive yelling when he got back. 

He closed his eyes and breathed in Gerard’s scent off the pillow – mostly, it just smelt of unwashed hair, but it was oddly comforting. Familiar. Safe. 

He just had to hear it from Gerard himself. All Gerard had to say to him was “Frankie, I don’t want to be your mate” and he’d leave him alone forever. Was that too much to ask for? 

There was the sound of the key scraping in the lock and Frank groaned, momentarily disorientated. He must have fallen asleep for a bit. He pushed himself up, feeling the sheets stick to his face, when he suddenly realised with an excited jolt in his stomach that he recognised the voice speaking.

“But yeah, sucks that you’re not coming tonight, you sure?”

That was Bert’s voice. The door unlocked with a click and started to swing open. 

“Can’t. Got a thing. And – wait.” 

The door suddenly stopped, barely open. 

“Hey, has anyone else been here?”

It was Gerard. 

Frank’s immediately pushed himself bolt upright in the bed, scrambling to his feet and nearly braining himself on the floor when he slipped on one of the sketchbooks.

Bert laughed. 

“Actually yeah, funny you ask. Some punk kid called Frank showed up earlier looking for you. He’s probably still inside waiting for you, actually!” 

“He’s still _here_?!” 

There was something in Gerard’s tone that made Frank freeze on the spot. He’d been this close to yanking the door open and declaring himself but it was the way Gerard sounded so panicked... 

“Yeah, I think so... why? Dude, he looks kinda young... what’s the story there?” Bert asked.

“Fuck! I – I can’t deal with this right now. I need to– I have to go out. Can you get rid of him for me?”

Frank felt himself shrink back into the shadows of the room. Of course, he thought bitterly. Of course.

“Seriously?! You know he can probably hear us –”

“Just do it!!” Gerard shrieked. He already sounded like he was about halfway down the corridor. “I’ll buy you a beer or something later, OK?!”

Frank was scrabbling for the door but by the time he yanked it back, it was already too late and he caught sight of the double doors at the end of the corridor swing shut. Bert gave Frank a helpless smile. 

“Sorry little dude, he’s got his reasons, I guess,” he said with a small shrug. 

“No worries,” Frank said, his voice sounding strangely distant. “Hey, look, I need you to give him a message - it’s really fucking important.” 

Bert looked uncomfortable. “Look, if he doesn’t want to talk to you –”

“It’s not about me!” Frank snapped. “There’s some serious shit going down at home with his family that they need him for!” 

He ran back into the room and tore a page out of Gerard’s sketchbook, making sure to use the one about the werewolf looking for a cure.

“ _Vampires came into town looking for a fight,_ ” he wrote on the back in sharpie. “ _Things going to get REALLY bad. We need you tonight. Please come back and stop being a massive tool. I’m already yours – F_ ” 

“Just make sure he gets this as soon as I’ve gone, OK?” Frank said, folding it over and handing it to Bert. “Like, before sunset?” 

“No promises –” Bert began.

“No ‘no promises’!” Frank had to grit his teeth to stop himself from yelling abuse. “People could _die_ if he doesn’t get this, and I’m not being melodramatic!!” 

Bert’s eyes widened and for a second, Frank wondered if he’d given away too much. 

But then Bert nodded and put the paper in his pocket. 

“I’ll do my best,” he said. 

Satisfied, Frank left.

~*~*~

Frank managed to hitch a ride to the turnpike off some students who were heading that way for a gig. They even offered Frank their spare ticket which, although he declined, was an incredibly tempting offer considering he knew what shit was probably about to go down in Belleville tonight.

It could have been Frank’s imagination but there seemed to be something in the air that Frank had never noticed before; a sort of energy that cracked with the promise of a fight. 

As he was standing by the side of the road, his thumb out and trying not to look dangerous or intimidating, his phone suddenly buzzed in his pocket. His heart leapt in his chest – Gerard?! – only for his hopes to come crashing down and be replaced with confusion as he saw who’s name was displayed on the screen.

“Mom?”

“Where the hell are you?!” 

Frank felt himself go pale. Forget the impending supernatural war - his Mom sounded _furious._

“I got a call from school saying you’d cut class!!” she yelled. 

“I – I - uh – I – “ Frank winced. 

“Damnit Frank, this isn’t OK!! First of all you sneak in late last night after going God-knows where and not even letting me know you’d be late home, now you’re skipping school!!”

“I was at Ray’s!” Frank said.

“I knew you’d say that! I called Ray’s house when you didn’t come back. He said you’d left long before your curfew!” 

Screwed. Frank was so screwed. 

“Well!? Where were you!?” 

“I – I was hanging out,” Frank babbled. “With this guy. Pete. He’s a friend of Mikey Way’s.” 

His Mom spluttered and too late, Frank realised he probably shouldn’t have said Pete was a friend of Mikey’s. His Mom had never liked the Way’s very much and barely tolerated the fact that Frank was friends with them. If she ever found out about his and Gerard’s sex-capades on the bathroom floor, she’d probably disown him. 

“Where are you?!” she said instead. “You’re coming home _immediately._ I don’t care if it’s your birthday, you _cannot_ behave like this!!” 

Frank could have kicked himself for stupidity. In the space of less than 24 hours, he’d forgotten his own birthday - _again._

“Frank?! Don’t you dare hang up on me!! Where are you?!”

He looked at his surroundings by the side of the road. If he told her, she’d probably be there and have him back in town in record time. He highly doubted she’d let him stop by Mikey’s though and with the way she sounded, he doubted he’d be allowed out after sunset until Christmas. 

“I’m – I’m somewhere,” he said lamely. “Look, Mom – I’ll be home tomorrow morning, first thing, I _promise_ but I can’t – I can’t tell you where I am or what I’m doing.”

“What do you mean, you _can’t_?” his Mom asked, and oh fuck, she didn’t sound angry anymore. “Frankie, are you OK?! Are you in some kind of trouble?! Is there someone else there? You just need to answer yes or no!” 

She sounded panicked and worried. Frank gritted his teeth and rolled his eyes. Great going, Frank. Really great. Try to reassure her and end up making her think he’d been abducted. 

“No no, nothing like that Mom, I swear!!” he said quickly. “Look, I’m really sorry and you can punish me all you want when I get back but I have to do this – uh – thing. Tonight. I’m out of town too, so there’s no point in looking for me.”

“You have a _thing_?! Frank, what’s going on? Are you –”

Frank quickly cut the call. He was in _so_ much trouble when he got home but what was he was supposed to say?! He hadn’t even figured out a way to tell him Mom he liked guys, let alone even begin to explain all this mythological crap. And there was no way in _hell_ he was going to tell her about the whole ‘werewolf-mating’ thing. He wasn’t sure how well ‘gay werewolves’ would mesh with her incredibly conservative beliefs, and the fact that it was with _Gerard_ of all people... 

He was distracted from his incredibly depressing thoughts by the sight of a car slowing down as it approached him. He held out his thumb hopefully, cheering internally when the car stopped beside him and the passenger window rolled down.

“I’m assuming he refused to come back,” said the driver.

Frank peered inside the car.

“Bob!” Frank couldn’t keep the delight or relief out his voice.

“Get in, I’m heading up your town anyway,” Bob said, reaching over to unlock the door. Frank climbed in quickly and closed the door behind him as the car started moving again. Frank’s eyes boggled when he realised there was a scythe propped up on the backseat; he swung his head around and forced himself to stare at the road ahead. 

“So, no luck with your mate then?” Bob asked with no preamble. “How’d it go?”

“Sucky,” Frank sighed. “He totally fucking blew me off and wouldn’t even see me.”

If it wasn’t for the fact that Frank _knew_ him and Gerard were meant to be together, he probably would have given up by this point. “Seriously, are you _sure_ he’s my mate? Coz I ain’t feeling the love right now.”

“Hmm.” Bob frowned. “You’ve got to give him credit for doing this for this long. He must be borderline suicidal right now.”

Frank snorted. “Yeah well, if anyone’s got self-inflicted misery down to an art, it’s Gerard Way.” 

Bob made an indistinguishable noise in response but said nothing.

They slipped into comfortable silence as the journey passed. Frank pulled his phone out and texted Mikey to pass the time, putting his feet on the dashboard to get comfortable. 

“ _Heading back 2 urs now. ur bro is a nob._ ”

Mikey’s response was predictably instant and short.

“ _i no. pete + ray here atm. pete brought a friend. house full of vampires. DNW._ ”

Frank’s eyebrows raised. Pete and Ray, plus another vampire? That was an unexpected development. He stared at his phone, carefully thinking of an adequate response. 

“ _lol._ ”

He pressed send, then added “ _im hitchhiking a lift off Death right now. our lives dude._ "

~*~*~

Bob dropped Frank off outside Mikey’s and for a farewell, chose to say “Not to sound ominous, but... I’ll see you later.”

He drove off before Frank could think of an appropriate response. With a shrug, Frank turned around and headed up the path to Mikey’s front door. Donna Way opened it before his hand had left the doorbell.

“Oh Frankie, honey, I’m glad to see it’s you,” she said with a warm smile in her familiar rasping voice. “Thought it was going to be another bloody vampire... Anyway, they’re all down in the basement.” 

Sure enough, Mikey, Ray and Pete were already waiting in Gerard’s old room in the basement. Somehow, even without Gerard being there, it still felt like the natural place to converge and hang out in. There was another guy there in a trucker hat who Frank assumed was Pete’s friend. 

“You made it!” Ray said, jumping up and throwing his arms around Frank in a strangely desperate hug, before muttering quietly in Frank’s ear “Thank _God_ you’re here, it’s so weird being the only human in the room.” 

Frank patted his back in a ‘yeah, I know’ way before they pulled apart. 

“So, Mikey told you, huh?”

“Actually, I did,” Pete said. He was lounging on the floor against Gerard’s bed watching the episode of Invader Zim that was on TV. “I figured – correctly, as it turns out – that your alpha had given Mikey here orders not to tell anyone anything, and seeing as you guys are all buddies, there’s a chance of Ray here getting caught in the crossfire.” He nodded to Ray. “Your house has wolf-scene all over it.” 

“He showed up at my window at 2am last night, full on Salem’s Lot-style,” Ray explained, looking less-than-thrilled at the memory. 

“You’d think there was a law of secrecy around us or something – oh wait, there is!” The vampire who was wearing a trucker hat rolled his eyes. He looked at Frank and waved. “I’m Patrick.”

Pete laughed. “Relax Trick, this is totally allowed – we’re on the cusp of war here! It’s totally an emergency.”

Patrick only rolled his eyes again in response. 

“You know, I hate to be the buzzkill here,” Frank said slowly, “But aren’t we still kinda outnumbered?” 

“We’ve got a law in place that says you can’t harm another of your own kind, so Brendon and his lot _should_ back down once they see there’s two vampires standing against them,” Pete explained. “They’re not bad guys, they’re just... uh... easily led. We’re more just trying to diffuse this situation than anything else.”

“Own kind?” Ray asked. Frank was relieved to see he wasn’t the only one confused by this.

“Species,” Mikey said quickly, taking off his glasses and wiping them. “Wolves can’t kill wolves, vampires can’t kill vampires – again, it stops the whole ‘fighting over land’ thing. Nothing about wolves killing vampires though...” 

“I still can’t get over the fact that you guys have so many rules and regulations,” Ray said, shaking his head sadly. “The vampire mythos is ruined for me forever!!” 

“Same,” Frank said. “No offence but for a bunch of badass supernatural creatures, you’re all kinda law-abiding pussies.” 

“Again, as I said,” Pete said simply. “Humans. Best deal.” 

Ray snorted. 

“So, what about Justin?” Frank asked, trying to bring the conversation back around to the more pressing details. “Who’s dealing with him?” 

“He’s mine,” Mikey said. He didn’t look happy about this. He shuddered and took off his glasses, rubbing his closed eyes. “Shit.”

“You OK?” Ray asked, putting a hand on Mikey’s shoulder. Mikey jumped, flinching away from the contact. 

“Yeah, I just – the moon’s almost up,” he said.

He didn’t look right, Frank thought later. You could almost see there was something physically wrong with Mikey, like he didn’t fit his skin properly anymore.

Mikey didn’t let them watch his transformation. Frank had protested but had been quickly shot down by Pete.

“You ever seen An American Werewolf in London?” Pete asked, steering Frank and Ray towards the stairs.

“Of course! Why?” Frank asked.

“It’s worse than that,” Patrick said simply. 

Frank quickly went up the stairs with no further complaints.

~*~*~

“How do you know where we’re supposed to go?” Ray asked. The five of them – Frank, Ray, Pete, Patrick and newly-wolfed Mikey were walking as one large group, sticking to the middle of the empty roads instead of staying on the sidewalk.

“All disagreements must be resolved in the place they started,” Patrick explained. “And seeing as this is technically where Pete made first contact with you, this is the spot. It’s –”

“The law,” Frank finished. If he never heard the phrase ‘there’s a law about this’ or any approximation on it again in his life, it’d be too soon. 

Mikey let out a small whine, butting his head against Frank’s side in what Frank assumed was supposed to be a reassuring gesture.

“Gotta hand it to you Mikey,” Frank said, patting the top of Mikey’s head. “You’re a badass wolf.” 

Ray nodded in agreement. Mikey was twice the size of a normal wolf and just _radiated_ power. His fur was an incredible grey that had flakes of silver and blond streaked through it while he moved swiftly with the kind of fluidity that Frank knew was impossible for mere mortals. 

He wished he could have seen what Gerard looked like in wolf-form. It was probably amazing. 

“I just hope we don’t get spotted by the neighbours,” Frank said, looking up nervously at the houses that surrounded them. He supposed they could always pass Mikey off as an overgrown dog or something... 

The vampires were already waiting in the parking lot outside the Stop’N’Shop when they got there. They’d upturned several of the shopping carts and were racing in the others around the tarmac. 

“Well well, look who finally showed up!” Justin said. He was standing on the roof but leapt down as soon as they arrived, landing gracefully on his feet in front of them and whistled to Brendon and the others, signalling them over. “Gotta say, I’m not impressed. Still no sign of your mate, Frankie?”

“Bite me, Bieber,” Frank snapped. No one but Gerard got to call him ‘Frankie’.

“That can be arranged,” Justin said. He looked over to Ray and clapped his hands together in delight. “And you brought dessert too! How thoughtful!” 

Mikey growled, taking a step forward. Spencer, who was closest, hissed, barring his teeth and Frank suddenly felt like he was in the weirdest stand-off of all time. They stood practically toe-to-toe with their opponents. 

“Woah, hold up!!” Pete said, holding up his hands. “We’re not trying to fight here – we just want this sorted amicably.” 

“Give us the two humans and we’ll go peacefully,” Justin said, eliciting another growl out of Mikey.

“No dice,” Patrick said. “One’s marked and we’re not here to make deals anyway.”

“Come on Justin, you’re out-numbered,” Pete said in a low voice. “We’re standing against you and you know what that means.”

And then Justin - laughed. Frank felt his insides twist. That couldn’t be a good sign.

“You seriously still think we’re going to follow that bullshit law? Bad move, Pete.” 

In one swift move, he pulled out a wooden stake from where it was tucked in his waistband and brought it down, aiming straight for Patrick’s heart. Frank saw Pete yank Patrick out the way but not enough in time to completely dodge the stake. When Justin pulled his hand back, it was firmly stabbed deep into Patrick’s shoulder. 

“ **Too far, Justin,** ” Pete said and in a blink, his face had transformed into his vampire one before he lunged at Justin. 

And then chaos erupted around them. Frank saw the vampires on Justin’s side suddenly _swarm_ over Pete, meeting in a mash of teeth and claws but moving too fast for him to properly see anything. With a savage snarl that Frank never wanted to hear again Mikey leapt – actually fucking _leapt_ \- over their heads, jumping into the fight to help Pete against the odds. Patrick meanwhile, had slumped down to the ground, clutching the stake sticking out his shoulder and his face – human form – twisted up in pain.

“Ray – Patrick!!” Frank said, grabbing Ray’s arm. 

He ran over to Patrick, skidding to halt and dropping to his knees. Patrick was slumped against an upturned shopping cart, his teeth gritted in pain. Ray leaned over him, looking like he was going to be sick.

“What do we do?!” he asked.

“Get it out!!” Patrick said through laborious gasps. “You have to pull it out.”

Frank stared in horror at the stake – it was just _there_ , embedded deeply in Patrick skin. He put one hand around it and gave it a hesitant tug. Patrick roared in pain and his entire body jolted forward violent as his face shifted into his true vampire form.

“Do it quickly!!” he snarled, the stench of dead meat on his breath suddenly overwhelming. Frank felt himself gag. 

“Ray, hold him down,” Frank said, rubbing his hands together. He could do this, he could get over his squeamishness.

Ray quickly placed his hands around the edges of the stake on Patrick’s heaving chest as Frank carefully took it in both hands.

“Quickly,” Patrick said, his red eyes focused on Frank. “On my count. One, two –”

Frank yanked as hard as he could and the stake came out, releasing the most disgusting, putrid stench of rotting flesh as it did. Patrick let out a terrible scream of pain, his head thrown back but then he gave a small shudder and his face shifted back to normal. His breaths were coming out in ragged gasps and he still looked like he was in an incredible amount of pain, clutching the wound with his hand that was already spotted in black flakes. 

Frank stared down at the stake in his shaking hands; the tip was covered in black blood up to a terrifying level.

“Do we need to like, bandage the wound?” Ray asked.

“Nah, it’ll heal on its own, just give me a minute,” Patrick said, breathing heavily. He looked up at Frank. “Thanks.” 

“No problem –” Frank began to say but was cut off by something that felt like a block of ice tackling him, sending him flying across the tarmac. He landed painfully on his side, all the air knocked out his lungs as he skidded painfully across the rough surface, feeling the skin on his bare arms scrape off as he came to a stop. He heard Ray cry out his name and he looked up to see Justin standing a few feet away from him, his eyes narrowed and a triumphant smirk on his face. Behind him, Mikey and Pete were too busy fighting the other vampires to notice.

“Frank, Frank, Frankie,” Justin said, slowly approaching him. His trousers were hanging low, like he was trying to be ‘gangsta’ and suddenly, Frank didn’t want to die – not by Justin. Any other vampire he’d take happily, just not this kid because, seriously? This was just humiliating. “I guess I win, huh? This was way too easy.”

He was suddenly there, right in front of Frank, crouching down. His teeth shone in the moonlight. 

“Shame your mate didn’t think enough of you to stick around,” he said, his disgusting breath blowing in Frank’s face. 

“Your breath _really_ stinks,” Frank said, gasping some air back into his lungs. “You should seriously pop a mint or something.” 

Frank felt sweet triumph as he saw the flash of hurt on Justin’s face but then it was swiftly replaced with anger. 

“Screw you, I didn’t fucking _want_ this!” Justin cried, sounding much more like the child he looked like. “I don’t want to be a stupid vampire, this life sucks!” 

“Better enjoy eternity then,” Frank said, giving him best shit-eating grin. His side was burning from where he’d hit the tarmac. 

Justin raised his hand, his claws extended up as he prepared to strike and Frank kept his eyes on them this time. He was watching this to the very end.

The hand fell –

And then, making Justin freeze on the spot, a wolf howled. 

But it was more than just a howl. It was loud and really _fucking_ close and it wasn’t Mikey. 

Suddenly, a giant, black wolf jumped out of the shadows, too fast for Frank to see where it had come from, tackling Justin to the ground. 

“Gerard!!” Frank yelled, scrambling to his feet, all pain forgotten.

It _was_ Gerard. It really was him this time, Frank just _knew_ it. 

Fuck. _Gerard had come back._

Somewhere, in the back of Frank’s mind, he suddenly felt relieved. Gerard was back. Everything was going to be OK. 

Justin scrambled to his feet, glaring at Gerard. 

“Well well well, is this who I think it is?!” he asked. “Took you long enough!” 

Gerard let out a low growl in response that made the hair on the back of Frank’s neck stand up. He lunged for Justin, making Justin dive out the way. They started to fight with Gerard attacking and Justin constantly dodging. Justin managed to get a few good hits and bites in but they barely had any impact on Gerard, and his own attacks were doing far more damage. Gerard’s paw swiped out, clawing Justin across the face and sending him flying back across the tarmac in a similar way to what he’d just done to Frank. When Justin got back up, Frank couldn’t hold back a yell of horror – Justin’s mouth had been split across his cheek, flaps of dead skin hanging down and splattering black blood on the ground. 

Frank suddenly remembered what Pete had said about werewolves being stronger than vampires and realised that Justin must have _known_ this would happen. He must have _known_ that there was no way he could win this fight on his own. Frank glanced over to see Mikey and Pete’s fight had drawn to a stop, with everyone choosing to watch the big battle between Gerard and Justin instead. Ducking another of Gerard’s attacks, Justin looked to his clan for help but they remained on the sidelines, looking terrified. 

“Fat lot of help you are!!” Justin snarled, the torn remains of his mouth flapping grotesquely. Gerard charged towards him, about to pounce –

“Look out!!” Frank screamed. In a split second, he’d seen Justin’s hand slide into his pocket just as Gerard was bearing down on him. 

The warning was too late. Justin threw a handful of some kind of shimmering cloud in Gerard’s face. 

“Silver dust!!” Pete yelled from the sidelines. “That’s cheating!!” 

Gerard let out a whimper of pain, his eyes screwed up in pain as he pawed at his nose, and taking full advantage of the distraction, Justin suddenly vaulted over Gerard, landing on his back, his hands grabbing Gerard’s neck and –

There was a sickening crack and Frank suddenly felt it – fucking _felt_ it, felt the exact moment his soul ripped in half and died. 

“NO!” he screamed, running forward, throwing himself at Gerard’s motionless form. He was _gone._ Gerard was dead and Frank couldn’t even pretend otherwise because he could fucking _feel_ it inside him. 

The wind suddenly picked up to a dangerous degree. 

“What’s – what’s that?!” Ray asked, his voice high and alarmed.

“ **ME** ,” said a terrifying disembodied voice that carried on the wind. 

Frank curled up, burying his face in Gerard’s side and lacing his fingers through the long black fur. It was slightly coarse and smelt so much like Gerard that Frank couldn’t bear it. He closed his eyes and pressed his face into Gerard’s side, trying to block out the world. 

He missed the blinding flash of light but he heard it when Ryan screamed “Oh shit, Death’s here!! Run!!” and automatically looked up. 

“I don’t think so!” Bob said calmly, slamming his sickle down in front of Brendon and blocking his path. “You know the laws, Urie, and you’re broken them!” 

“It wasn’t our fault!!” Brendon screamed. “It was Justin!! It was all his idea!!” 

“Indeed?” Bob asked. “And where is Justin in all this?”

They all looked around but in the chaos, he’d escaped. 

“I’ll speak for them,” Pete said quickly but was cut off by Bob.

“Up up bah! Of course _you_ would! Patrick – this one’s in your hands. Will you speak for them?”

Patrick still looked incredibly weak as he leaned on Ray for support to stand up, but he nodded. 

“They haven’t technically broken any laws,” he said, clutching his shoulder. “No vampires are dead by their hands and they were only following their leader.”

Brendon, Spencer, Ryan and Jon were clutching each other, looking at Patrick with wide hopeful eyes. They were covered in various cuts and injuries from the fight which were already starting to heal. 

“Yeah, that’s totally it!!” Brendon said, nodding frantically. “Pete will back us up –”

“Oh, shut up,” Bob said, rolling his eyes. “Pete, Patrick – these kids are your coven now. They fuck up again and it’s your responsibility, understood?” 

Pete and Patrick both nodded. 

“Thank you, seriously, thank you so much, it won’t happen again, I swear!!” Brendon babbled.

“What did I say about shutting up?!” Bob snapped. Brendon immediately fell silent. “Now...” 

Frank felt a large hand rest on his shoulder. Numbly, he looked up. Bob was staring down at him, holding his sickle in one hand. 

“Tough break, kid,” he said. Weirdly, he sounded like he genuinely meant it.

Mikey let out a long, mournful howl. 

“He came back for me,” Frank said, feeling his fingers tighten into fists in Gerard’s fur. “He was going to save us all –”

“He saved your life,” Bob said gently. “But we’ve all got to pay for our mistakes, Frank, mate or not.”

Frank looked up at horror in Bob. 

“No,” he said, suddenly realising exactly why Bob was there. He looked over to Pete and Patrick for some support but they couldn’t meet his eyes. Pete had taken over from Ray to hold up Patrick and had his arm around Patrick as Patrick rested his head on Pete’s chest. There was something in the way they were holding each other that seemed familiar to Frank, so intimate...

Oh. _Oh._ Frank suddenly got it. Patrick was Pete’s mate. 

Like Gerard was his. 

“No!” Frank said again, scrambling to his feet. “Bob, come on, you can’t – you can’t take Gerard!!” He stood in front of Gerard’s body, standing between Gerard and Bob, holding his ground. “I won’t let you – _I just got him back!!_ You can’t take him from me!!” 

Bob shook his head. “That’s not how it works. Come on Frank, out the way.”

“Over my fucking dead body,” Frank snarled.

“That can be arranged,” Bob said coolly. 

“Then do it!!” Frank said. Tears were escaping his eyes and rolling down his face but he didn’t care. He could already feel the gaping hole in his chest. He’d felt it the minute Gerard had died. It was an empty hollowness, like he’d never fully be one person again. If he thought the idea of Gerard leaving him was bad, it was _nothing_ compared to this. “I am not living the rest of my life feeling like this so either you bring him back or you take me too!!” 

“Frank –” Ray began but was stopped by a look from Pete. 

“Even after everything he did?” Bob said, one eyebrow raised. He folded his arms and stared Frank down. “You’re willing to die for him? Seriously think about this one, Frank.” 

“I have. And _yes_ ,” Frank spat. He wiped his cheeks furiously and held Bob’s icy-cold gaze. 

Time seemed to stand still, freezing and trapping them the moment. His own words echoed back in his head, his determined ‘yes’ repeating over and over again.... 

Bob groaned and threw his hands up in the air, letting his sickle clatter the ground. “Fucking mates, you make my job _so_ much more difficult!!” 

Frank stared at him. He looked to Pete for any clarification on what the fuck was going on but Pete just grinned at Frank and winked. 

“Come on Bob, you know the laws,” Pete said triumphantly. “Any soul may prevented from being taken by offer –”

“Of genuine exchange, I know!” Bob snapped, giving Pete a death-glare that any lesser mortal would have run away from screaming. “I came up with that law, I should know it!”

Frank cleared his throat. Something – _something_ was going on, and while he wasn’t sure what exactly, there was a small flare of hope inside him.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

Bob sighed and picked up his sickle. “You offered a trade,” he said, pointing at Frank. “You offered yourself for Gerard.”

Frank didn’t want to point out that that wasn’t exactly what he’d meant but instead he nodded and said “Yeah, so?” 

“So, sew buttons!” Pete said excitedly. “You made a deal with the Grim Reaper! You for Gee! There’s laws about this.”

Bob rolled his eyes. “I can’t take Gerard while your offer stands but I can’t take you either as you’re not an equal soul.” 

Frank was slightly offended by this until he realised Bob meant it literally. Pete had explained all this to him, about the hierarchy system and the levels of supernatural beings... 

“So it needs to be another wolf?” he asked, shooting a worried look at Mikey. Mikey let out a yelp of surprise. 

“Or vampire or fairie,” Bob shrugged. “Not a zombie or ghost though. They’re a lower level than human.”

Frank felt his stomach sink. This whole trade thing was a one-step-forward-two-steps-back deal. Just where the hell was he supposed to get a willing vampire to trade - 

“Justin,” Frank said, suddenly understanding. 

“Got it in one,” Bob said, pointing his sickle at Frank. “You kill that little shit Bieber for me, and I’ll give you back Gerard. Bieber’s been causing far too many problems lately, I’d rather not have to deal with him anymore if I can but he’s a slippery little fucker – he keeps getting away from me.” 

“You want me to go against a vampire??” Frank asked. He was so screwed. 

“Well, it’s him, Jennifer Lopez or the souls of a thousand evil men. Your choice.”

~*~*~

“Uh, I don’t mean to sound... well. Isn’t this... like... a little degrading to Mikey?” Frank asked. “Using him as a sniffer dog?”

The answer to this was apparently not as Mikey’s head shot up and he gave Frank a sour look that said very clearly ‘Don’t patronise me.’ Pete laughed.

Last night, he’d hung out with Death, and Upper and Lower Management. Tonight, it was a werewolf and a vampire. Frank was starting to suspect his life was never going to be normal again. 

With Pete staying close to Frank, Mikey was leading them with his nose pressed firmly to the ground. He seemed to be leading them further out of the dodgy part of town to the even worse part that most of the drug-dealers tended to avoid. 

“Abandon all ye hope who enter here,” Frank muttered. “Pete, why did you... what was it? ‘Speak up’ for Brendon and his lot? Couldn’t we have just given Bob one of them?”

Pete winced. “They’re really not bad guys, Frank. Just... misguided and a little new to the world. I joined them a bit back shortly after they turned – they were already with Justin by that point – and I could see they had the potential to get themselves in trouble, so I tagged along with them to try and get a handle on them... Clearly, it didn’t work.” 

“I dunno,” Frank said. “I think Bob put the fear of God into them.”

Pete snorted as Mikey let out a bark that sounded strangely like laughter. “Yeah, he does that.” 

As they walked, they passed two teenagers in monster masks, completely wasted out their minds. 

“Hey!! Awesome dog dude!!” one of them said, reaching out to pet Mikey. Frank was half expecting Mikey to snarl or growl or do _something_ even vaguely werewolf like, but instead his tail started wagging furiously, like he was enjoying the attention.

Frank was never going to be able to watch a horror movie again. Ferocious town protector, his ass!! 

“What are you guys supposed to be?” the other guy asked, taking a swig out the can of beer he was holding.

“A vampire, a werewolf and a deal with Death,” Frank said bluntly. 

The guy laughed. “Cool,” he said, nodding. “Happy Halloween!” 

“Yeah, you too,” Frank said, sketching a small wave in the air. He thought glumly about the tattoo he should have had by now, all the alcohol he should have drunk, all the junk food he should have eaten. His plans hadn’t exactly been extravagant; skip school, get his first tattoo, go to Mikey’s with Ray, eat pizza, drink booze, get high and watch horror movies. 

It all seemed so meaningless and trivial now in the grand scheme of things. 

They rounded the corner, turning down the road that would take them out of town. Frank noted the houses around them were getting more and more sporadic and dilapidated along the roadside. 

“So...” Frank cleared his throat awkwardly. “What’s the best way to kill a vampire?” 

“Oh, the usual methods,” Pete replied casually. “You know, stake through the heart, sunlight, decapitation, burning...”

“Do you have a stake?” 

“Of course!” Pete said, pulling out a wooden stake tucked in the back of his jeans. He handed it over to Frank. “It’s the same one the fucker tried to stake Trick with.” 

Frank’s fingers closed around the wood, feeling the rough texture under his skin. If he looked close enough, he could still see where the tip was stained faintly. 

“Patrick’s your mate, right?” Frank asked, a thought occurring to him.

Pete suddenly smiled. “Yeah,” he said softly. “He’s mine.”

“How does that work? Like, I thought you guys couldn’t –”

“We don’t _need_ too,” Pete said haughtily, his smile dropping. Mikey let out a bark of laughter. “I told you – we find our pleasure in each other’s company and interests. It’s like...” He trailed off, trying to find the words. “Patrick has a _way_ with music. When he writes, sings, plays, whatever – just to be a part of that with him... it’s incredible. Mating isn’t just a sex thing, Frank. It’s a sacred life-long thing that’s more concerned with the essence than the vessel. You just want to _be_ with your mate, and you don’t care how.”

He may have had a point, Frank thought. There had been that one moment of intensity on the bathroom floor, but that was all he had. Sure, he’d had years before of knowing Gerard beforehand as Mikey’s older brother who was weird and arty, and who always kept a secret stash of vodka in his bottom drawer for them to sip while they watched cheesy horror movies. He’d never had anything else than that though. All Frank had to go on was that one moment, a metaphorical hole in his chest and a bunch of people telling him that fate said so. For anyone else, it would have been ridiculous, and yet here he was, about to do something that was probably going to get him killed... and all for Gerard. 

He was brought out of his deeply depressing thoughts by Mikey suddenly stopping short and growling. 

“What is it, boy?” Pete asked. “Trouble in the old mill??”

Mikey abruptly stopped growling and gave Pete a glare that clearly said _are you freakin’ kidding me??_ He rolled his eyes and gave his head a shake, turning to Frank and giving him a pointed look, gesturing with his head to the boarded-up building ahead of them. 

“He’s in here?” Frank asked, staring up at the ruined church. “Seriously?! No points for originality there...” 

Mikey let out a little whine and batted his head against Frank’s side gently. 

“OK, OK, I get it,” Frank said. He pulled the stake out his back pocket and held it tightly against his chest. 

There were fences around the church and a padlocked gate which Pete snapped off with relative ease as Mikey scratched at the metal panels, letting out angry, desperate whimpers. 

“Stay close, Frank,” Pete whispered. “He’s in there. I can smell him.”

“Let me guess,” Frank whispered back. “He already knows we’re here?”

Pete didn’t reply. Frank assumed the worst. 

Up close, the church looked like something straight out of every episode of Buffy that Frank had watched with Gerard, Mikey and Ray. Without the safety of a TV screen, being in Gerard’s basement curled up next to Gerard on the bed and a few mouthfuls of vodka warming him from the inside though, it seemed a lot less fun and a lot more ‘holy shit, we’re actually going to die.’ 

A cool wind suddenly picked up around them, making Frank shiver and pull the edges of his hoodie tighter around him. He wanted nothing more than to run, run as fast as he could. Danger, real live danger made of teeth and nightmares, was inside that dark building. 

They approached with Mikey leading. The front door was already wide open, the inside of the church dark and ominous. 

Frank gulped, feeling the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He pressed himself closer to Pete and Mikey. His legs were continuing to carry him forwards despite his brain screaming to stop. His heart was pounding like kick drum, rushing Frank’s blood through his body, his own marked blood that had caused all this trouble in the first place... 

They stepped into the church. Frank blinked, his eyes wide as they adjusted to the gloom. They walked towards the middle of the main area, their footsteps echoing too loudly off the stone walls. Frank could make out destroyed furniture, torn drapes, smashed windows and odd shapes in the darkness, and he gulped. 

Mikey suddenly let out an excited yelp and bolted into the small room at the back of the church. 

“Wait!!” Pete yelled and ran after him. 

Because Frank didn’t have any kind of supernatural speed or abilities, they were gone in the blink of an eye while Frank was still taking his first step. Thus, he was able to see Justin suddenly slam the heavy old door behind Pete and Mikey shut, locking them in his trap. His head snapped around while his hands were still pressed against the door with fingers splayed, Pete’s thumps against the wood muffled. 

“So... Frankie,” he said. “Alone at last.” 

His cheek had healed into an ugly, raised scar, pulling his face into a permanently lopsided and maniacal grin. 

“Get back, I’m warning you!! I’m armed!” Frank held the stake up as a warning, which would have been a whole load more effective if his hands hadn’t been shaking so badly for sheer _anger_ (and OK, a fuck-ton of fear too) - only his closest friends and family could call him _Frankie_. 

“Really??” Justin said, staring at Frank incredulously. “Do you have any idea how to use that thing?!” 

“Stake through the heart, and I’m pissed enough at you to make it happen,” Frank snapped. 

Justin burst out laughing. “Oh, go on then,” he said. He stood in front of Frank in arm’s length and held his arms out. “Call it a gift. I killed your mate, you should at least get a shot at me.”

Frank stared at Justin’s chest. Up close, he suddenly realised he didn’t know where the heart was. It seemed like such a small target lost in a huge void. 

“Seriously?” Frank asked.

“Yeah, why not?” Justin said with a careless shrug. 

Frank slammed the stake down on what he hoped was the right spot. Justin’s chest was rock hard and the stake slipped uselessly through Frank’s grip, splintering painfully in his fingers, and clattering to the ground.

Justin stared at Frank with a very nasty smirk on his torn face. 

“Do you know how hard it is to drive one of those into a _human’s_ heart? Past the rib cage, muscles and everything else?” Justin asked. “And you tried it on a supernatural being... tut tut, Frankie. Amateur mistake.” 

Fuck. Frank was so totally fucked. 

Justin casually backhanded Frank across the face, sending the human crashing down to the stone floor. Pain exploded through Frank’s jaw and he felt one of his teeth come loose. 

“Frank!!” Pete shouted, the door between them rattling violently. “Find a relic! Something holy or blessed! A crucifix or some holy water!” 

Frank suddenly saw something gold, dimly glinting out from under the pile of rubble. He scrabbled on his hands and knees towards it and grabbed it – score!! It was a small, simple wooden cross. The gold paint was chipped and flaked off onto Frank’s hands where he touched it. 

“Get back!!” he yelled, holding it up against Justin.

Justin shrieked, visibly flinching and halting his tracks. 

“I’ve got a cross - what do I do?!” Frank yelled, holding it tightly. It seemed to be holding Justin back, or at least, Justin couldn’t seem to be able to look at it while Frank held it up. 

“Make him touch it!!” Pete yelled, the door rattling as he threw himself against it.

Frank stared at the cross then at Justin. He didn’t think, he just ran towards Justin, holding the cross out – 

And Justin’s hand shot out, tightly grabbing Frank’s wrist that held the wooden cross. Pain shot through Frank’s arm and he felt something break under Justin’s grip. His hand went limp and the cross fell to the ground, snapping into two useless pieces.

“Nice try,” Justin said, and then yanked Frank forwards, throwing him back against the wall. All the breath left his body and he crumpled to the floor, unable to get up. His body automatically curled up, trying to get the air back into his lungs as he lay there gasping, trying to work out if he’d only been winded or if the pain was just that intense. 

Thankfully, Justin was there to help get him back on his feet, yanking him up by the collar of his shirt so that his feet brushed the ground. 

“You’re seriously the best they could send?” Justin asked, and then threw him against the wall again.

This time, Frank felt a couple of his ribs break in the impact. He wasn’t even given a chance to let this fact settle as Justin was already stepping over him, kicking him in the back and sending him slamming back down into the dusty ground. He coughed and spat out a mouthful of something hot and metallic-tasting. 

Justin yanked Frank’s head back by the hair, making his neck crack painfully. 

“No werewolf-boyfriend to save you this time,” he said. 

“At least I _had_ a mate,” Frank snapped. “ _And_ I got to fuck him.” 

White spots exploded behind Frank’s eyelids and he went sliding across the floor before he realised that Justin had back-handed him.

“Fuck you!!” Justin screamed. “I hate being a vampire! No one fucking _told_ me about the ‘no fucking’ thing! And –”

Clearly, Frank had touched a nerve. As Justin ranted on, Frank took the chance to push himself back up on one shaky arm. If he was going to die, he was going to do it knowing he’d made this brat cry. 

“Sex is _awesome_ ,” Frank declared. “Especially with a supernatural. It’s like a day at Disneyland with no queues and the front row to your favourite band in the world’s best mosh pit combined. Did no one tell you that part either?”

This time, he saw Justin’s fist just a second before it connected with the side of his face. The impact actually sent Frank airborne for a couple of seconds before he landed on his back. 

“You picked the wrong side to be on,” Frank said, sitting up and feeling the room spin. His lips slid back on his blooded teeth into a painful smile. “Should have been a werewolf, Justin. They have all the fun.”

Justin’s feet – or was it his fists? – were connecting with various parts of Frank’s body with such rapid speed that Frank wasn’t even sure if he was registering any fresh pain over the already constant wave he was riding. His head rolled back, knocking against the hard stone floor, the edges of his vision blurring as he gasped through what felt like his lungs filled with blood, laughter echoing around. 

And then, through the haze of pain, he saw Bob, Gabe and Bill were standing around the edges of the room, watching the scene impassively. 

“ _STOP – LAUGHING – AT – ME!!_ ” Justin shrieked, oblivious to the onlookers. 

Frank couldn’t help it. He hadn’t even realised he was the one laughing. 

His vision was slanted and fading, tinged with red. He was dying, he realised. He was going to die here, pummelled to death. Justin seemed to have halted in his attack but only because his face had shifted into his true form; the lure of spilt blood had finally become too much for him to ignore. 

Justin’s teeth scraped against his throat. Frank sought out Bob, eyes locking through the blood and tears. Bob was leaning against the door, shaking his head. 

Come on, Frank thought. Let it go. Let me be with Gerard. 

Hot, white light completely blinded Frank and there was a terrible scream from above him. Suddenly, the weight on his chest that had been Justin was gone. Squinting through the light, Frank saw that Bob had open the side door he was leaning against, letting the church fill with the bright, glorious, morning sunlight. 

_Sunlight._

Frank shot upright, a surge of energy rushing through him and ignoring the cries of protest and pain in his body. Justin was curling up in the only patch of shadow left in the room.

“What the fuck is this?!” he howled. Where he’d briefly been in the sunlight, his white skin was red-raw and smoking. 

Frank let out a triumphant crow. 

“Deux ex machina, motherfucker!!” he yelled, jumping to his feet and doing the only thing that made sense to him in that moment; he grabbed Justin and dragged him struggling and screaming out of the shadow, and then tackled him into the deadly beams of the morning sun. The temperature of Justin’s ice cold skin suddenly rocketed under Frank’s grip and the world around him seemed to burst into light and fire. Justin was screaming, desperately trying to get away from Frank, from the light, but Frank held on with every inch of his being, forcing him out into the light, pushing against him, beyond pain, beyond feeling anything other than knowing that he _had to do this -_

And then there was a pair of strong hands yanking him back, pulling him away from the fireball that used to be Justin. His grip loosened and he automatically let go because _holy shit, he was on fucking fire._

“It’s OK, I’ve got you!!” Gabe was yelling, his face appearing above Frank, slamming his bare hands over Frank to pat out the flames. “It’s just your clothes, you’re ok!!” 

Frank yelled in horror but Gabe had already got the flames extinguished. He looked down at his clothes in dismay. They were covered in blood, dirt and massive burn-marks in random places. His Mom was going to _kill_ him...

“That was some serious cray-cray shit, little querdo!!” Gabe said, slinging an arm around Frank’s shoulder as Bill nodded in agreement. “I’ve _never_ seen anyone force a vampire into the sunlight like that before!!” 

“Impressive,” Bob said, crouching down in front of Frank and giving him a once over. “Especially for a human.” 

This was all too surreal, too weird. Was he dead? His body ached all over with the overall pain in his chest still there, the loss of Gerard still agonising and all too real. Was death supposed to be this painful? 

“Bob,” Frank rasped. His throat felt raw and his voice sounded shot to hell. “Am I dead yet?”

Bob folded his arms and stood up, looking down at Frank. Three pairs of eyes – Bill, Gabe and Frank – stared at him, awaiting the verdict. 

“Nah. You’ll live.”

Gabe let out an incredulous snort. “You know, call me crazy, but I could have _sworn_ Frank was supposed to –”

“Whatever,” Bob said with a shrug. “I’m motherfucking Death.” 

“You’re not supposed to show favourites!!” Bill hissed. 

Bob just rolled his eyes. “Like you guys don’t. Anyway, don’t you have a job to be doing?”

“Already on it,” Bill said with a haughty sigh. He reached out into thin air and grabbed a shimmer that had been hovering behind them. A terrified shriek pierced the air. 

“Now now, let’s have none of that! You knew damn well what you were doing, there’s no excuse for this!” Bill said sternly, addressing the haze around his hand. It was probably just a result of the horrific injuries Frank had sustained but he could have sworn at that moment that haze seemed to form the shape of someone small, almost child-height, struggling against Bill’s grip. 

He blinked and shook his head, and then Bill and the weird-haze-kid were gone.

“Wait, why – why’s he gone with Bill?” Frank asked, confused. 

Gabe snorted. “Well, after the shit he’s pulled, he ain’t coming with me.” 

There are moments in life when you don’t really get what the hell is going on but you decide to just go with things. For Frank, this was one of them.

~*~*~

Mikey was back in human form when Bob effortlessly kicked down the door to the room they were locked in. He seemed completely at ease with being completely naked when Frank, Gabe and Bob came traipsing in – although Frank couldn’t quite figure out why Pete was naked too.

“Solidarity,” Pete shrugged. 

“Oh, of course _you’d_ form pack,” Bob said, sounding exasperated. “Fucks sake Pete, can’t you ever do anything normally?!” 

Pete and Mikey exchanged smirks. There was a strange sense of something in the air, Frank could feel it, like an invisible thread that linked from Frank to Mikey and Pete. If he really focused, he could even kinda see where there were threads coming out from Mikey to Pete and vice-versa, and then threads from Pete that Frank intrinsically knew lead to Patrick. There was a loose thread coming from all of them though that left a jagged end waving in the breeze. 

“Gerard,” Frank said firmly, pushing himself away from Gabe, who was holding him up. “Come on Bob, you said I could have Gerard back in exchange for Justin.” 

He looked to Mikey and Pete for support, who nodded in agreement. 

“A deal’s a deal, Bob!” Pete said. Even Mikey’s usually stoic face was betraying his hope. 

Bob sighed theatrically. “I suppose you did _technically_ do it.” 

“Damn straight,” Pete grinned at Frank. 

There was no flash of light nor puff of smoke. But, as before, Frank could suddenly feel it somewhere deep down inside of him. Warmth spread throughout his entire body and with it came a sense of pure happiness, of hope and love, of _completeness_. The loose thread coming from the centre of Frank’s chest suddenly tightened and stretched, reaching out to connect to its missing end.

To Gerard. 

“He’s alive!” Frank cried. He threw his arms around Bob, so unbelievably grateful for the second chance. “I – I can feel it, guys, I can fucking feel it!”

“You’re welcome,” Bob said gruffly. “Now get off me before I change my mind about you.”

Frank quickly let go.

~*~*~

Mrs Way seemed completely un-phased by the sight in the early hours of the morning of her son completely naked with an (also naked) vampire, two abnormally tall guys (one of which was carrying a sickle) and her son’s friend looking like he’d just lost a fight against the Balrog traipsing into the house via the back door.

“They’re all downstairs, honey,” she said, kissing Mikey on the top of his head as a greeting. Pete had been hiding in Bob’s shadow as they crossed the front lawn to the house and quickly slipped past them into the safety of the darkness of the house. “I’m assuming they’ll be here all day?” 

“We’re not staying,” Bob said gruffly, elbowing Gabe in the side. Gabe, who had been drinking the remnants of Mrs Way’s coffee looked up. 

“Yeah, suppose not,” Gabe agreed. “Places to be, people to see. Well done guys, though, you did good!”

Frank nodded. Maybe later, he would appreciate the compliment. Maybe after he’d had some sleep or coffee... 

“We’ll probably be seeing you all around,” Bob said. 

“At Underworld,” Gabe added with a wink at Frank. 

“And,” Bob paused. “Just... _try_ to stay out of trouble. Pete.” 

Pete spluttered but before he could reply, there was a flash of light and a clap of thunder, and then Bob and Gabe were gone. 

“Interesting friends you keep, honey,” Donna murmured. “Who was the strapping fellow with the sickle?” 

“No one,” Mikey said quickly. He elbowed Pete in the side. “Come on, let’s grab Patrick and go to bed. I feel like I could sleep for a month.”

Frank was the trailing them as they headed for the basement, so when Mrs Way reached out and lightly touched his shoulder, Pete and Mikey carried on without him.

“Frankie,” she said quietly. “Thank you.” 

If Frank looked hard enough, he could see her eyes were red-rimmed and the edges of her make-up were smudged. 

“When they all turned up here with him...” she trailed off, unable to bring herself to finish. 

“Yeah, I know,” Frank said. He understood far too well what it must have been like. 

“They put him in the living room,” she said. “I – I didn’t know where else to put him.”

“Is he –“ Frank felt a horrible moment of doubt. 

She shook her head, smiling. “He’s fine. He’s downstairs with the others. That vampire - Patrick - explained everything while you were gone. Apparently you saved quite a lot of lives tonight.” 

Frank coughed, feeling his broken ribs cry out in protest. He hadn’t _meant_ to. All he’d ever wanted was to get Gerard to at least return his fucking calls. 

The sound of laughter tricked up from the open door to the basement. 

“Go on,” Mrs Way said, giving Frank a small nudge. “And don’t forget to give my eldest a smack around the head for being so pig-headed.” 

She winked at Frank and Frank suddenly realised that even if she wasn’t a wolf, she probably knew about the mating thing. 

Oh God, did she know about the whole bathroom incident?!

Trying to push that horrible thought to the back of his mind, he quickly descended the stairs to the basement. His heart was pounding in his chest at a mile a minute with each thudding footfall as time stretched out into an eternity. 

Gerard was the first thing he saw. 

He was sitting on his bed, his black hair messed up and his eyes bright as he laughed at something Pete said. Mikey was curled up next to his brother with Pete and Patrick sitting on the edge of the bed (both Pete and Mikey had thankfully finally put on some clothes), while Ray, Brendon and the other vampires lounged on the floor, half-watching whatever was on the TV and joining in the conversation. 

It was a split second of pure normality – to anyone who didn’t know any better, the scene could have been a normal group of guys who were just hanging out. But Frank did know better, could _feel_ it better than anyone else. This was pack. 

And Gerard, fuck. Gerard was so vibrant and alive and so _powerful_. Frank didn’t know how he could have fucking missed it before because everything about him screamed alpha, even when he was relaxing and goofing around. 

And he was _so_ beautiful. Frank had never been one to gush over beauty in the same way that Gerard did when talking about art or whatever because he’d never been that kind of person but looking at Gerard there and then, in that moment where he was unaware of Frank’s presence, it hit Frank. He’d always thought Gerard was pretty for a guy but it was like seeing him in an entirely new light. 

How could this gorgeous and powerful creature be for him? Suddenly, Frank felt the urge to turn around and run, to run away from this group, from this fate. It was too much. He wasn’t worthy. 

Gerard’s head snapped up and his eyes locked with Frank’s, and the moment ended. 

“Fra – Frankie?” Gerard asked, like he couldn’t believe it was him. 

Frank was paralyzed where he stood, one hand still on the banister. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from Gerard’s as the rest of the room and the world ceased to exist. 

Gerard was already scrambling to his feet and crossing the floor in one, two, three steps and then he was suddenly _there_ , right in front of Frank, who was still frozen to the spot and could only stare up at him. 

“Frankie?” Gerard asked again in that uncertain tone. 

His hand reached out hesitantly and with the lightest of touches, his fingertips brushed against the side of Frank’s face. Frank could only continue to look, unable to believe it, that it was Gerard, that he was here, that he was _alive_...

“Oh Frankie, I’m so –“

Something inside Frank finally snapped, spurning him into action. His body acted before his brain could catch up and his arms threw themselves around Gerard’s neck, yanking Gerard towards him. Gerard staggered but reacted quick enough, opening his mouth to Frank’s with his own arms wrapping around Frank, supporting him and lifting him up, kissing him back and Frank couldn’t get his mind around things anymore, that this was _Gerard_ and he was _here_ and he was fucking _kissing_ him.

“You’re – so – fucking – stupid!!” Frank said in between kisses, his hands sliding to the edges of Gerard’s face and gripping him, kissing him with everything he had and still feeling like he’d never be able to get enough. 

“I know, I know,” Gerard said breathlessly, kissing him back with a fierce, biting intensity and squeezing Frank so tightly that –

Frank cried out in pain as one of his many injuries twinged and he jolted back. 

“What?” Gerard asked, his face furrowed in confusion and then he suddenly looked horrified. “Oh my God, Frankie, what happened to your face?!” 

His long fingers traced gently over one of the many bruises Frank could feel already forming. His eyes fluttered shut and he tried not to think about just how _good_ it felt to have Gerard touch him in any way...

Mikey coughed pointedly from behind them and Frank belatedly remembered they had an audience. He reluctantly pulled back from Gerard, seeing the faces behind them; Brendon and his lot were all staring openly with curiosity. Ray was blushing bright red and trying to look anywhere but at them. Mikey had one eyebrow raised which was Mikey-Way-speak for amusement, while Pete and Patrick were curled up against each other, barely paying any attention to anyone else. 

“He’s a little broken at the moment,” Pete explained, tearing his gaze away from Patrick to give Frank a very pointed look. 

Frank got it. 

“Come on Gee,” he said, taking Gerard’s hand and tugging him towards the stairs. “We need to talk – in private – and I don’t think these guys should risk going upstairs now that the sun’s up.” 

Gerard winced but didn’t protest. He let himself be led up the stairs, his hand clasped damp and tight in Frank’s.

~*~*~

The living room was empty so Frank led Gerard in there and shut the door behind them. For one horribly awkward and long moment, they both stood in the middle of the room and said nothing. Gerard started chewing nervously on his thumb nail, looking anywhere but at Frank.

“You’re an asshole,” Frank said bluntly, not waiting anymore. 

“Yeah.” Gerard nodded. He tore his thumbnail off in a one strip with his teeth and winced as blood bubbled to the surface. 

“I mean, let’s not even talk about what you did to _me_. Running out on this town and Mikey and then refusing to come back was pretty shitty too.” Frank folded his arms, forcing himself to stay calm. He could do this, he could totally do this without losing his temper...

“Yeah,” Gerard said again and started gnawing on another nail, still not looking at Frank. 

There was another painfully awkward silence. 

“Well?” Frank asked. “What’s your excuse?!”

Gerard tore off another nail and looked down at the sofa, where there was a dirty white sheet bundled up at one end. 

“I – I don’t – fuck, it’s – it’s complicated.” 

Frank waited for Gerard to elaborate. When he didn’t, this prompted another impatient “well??” 

“You wouldn’t get it,” Gerard mumbled. 

“ _Try me_ ,” Frank hissed through gritted teeth. He needed to hear this from Gerard, he needed an explanation.

“I – fuck Frank.” Gerard sighed and pulled his hands through his hair which was looking greasier than Frank had ever seen it (which, considering, was impressive). “You – you think it was easy? I mean, I’ve _never_ had a say in all this, it’s always just been how things are.” He started pacing, his arms flailing as he got more and more worked up. “I’ve _always_ had to stay in this stupid town and I’ve _always_ had to be the one to protect it when shit like this goes down, and what for?! I could never talk to anyone about it, except for Mikey and Helena, and then she fucking died and suddenly I was the alpha and – and I never fucking _wanted_ it, it just fucking happened! Like, Helena, she lived and died in this town. She was born here and grew up here, and she never got to leave.”

Gerard sighed again and slumped down on the edge of the sofa, all his energy suddenly dead. 

“I just wanted to get out,” he said softly. “Just for a bit.” 

Frank stared at him. It was like tunnel vision, focused entirely on Gerard and the way he was so clearly entirely dejectedly defeated.

“But you didn’t come back,” Frank said quietly. He licked his lips but his mouth still felt too dry. He paused, meaning to stop but it was too late and everything that he’d been holding back came bursting out, and Frank couldn’t have stopped it even if he tried. “We needed you and you didn’t come back. Fuck, Gerard, _I_ needed you and wouldn’t even talk to me! I needed you so fucking badly Gee and you wouldn’t even _talk_ to me!! You made me feel really fucking shitty, you know that? Like _I’d_ done something wrong –”

“You didn’t.” Gerard’s head snapped up and he was finally – fucking _finally_ \- looking at Frank. “I – I swear. You did nothing wrong, Frankie. You were – you were amazing. But I just – it was me, I couldn’t –”

“Oh boo-fucking-hoo!!” Frank suddenly yelled. “Sure, telling me this _now_ makes up for two months of absolute fucking silence!! So you didn’t want this. Big deal! Do you think _any_ of us wanted to end up trying to save this shit-hole from vampires?! I sure as fuck didn’t but I stuck around to do so because I _should._ Seriously Gee, what the actual fuck?! Not fucking cool!!”

“OK, I screwed up!!” Gerard was on his feet now and shouting right back at Frank, barely a foot away from him. “Is that what you want me to say?! I was selfish and stupid, is that what you want to hear?!”

“I want you to fucking tell me why you fucking ran out on me!! And why the hell you forbade Mikey from telling you anything! I mean, seriously Gee! You’re meant to be my god-dammed _mate_ -”

“Don’t say that,” Gerard snapped. “Don’t bring it up like that. This whole mating concept is bullshit, I didn’t want it, you didn’t want it –”

“Don’t fucking tell me what I do and don’t want,” Frank growled in an abruptly low tone that surprised even himself. “You don’t know the first fucking thing about me, you don’t know what I want –”

“What, you wanted me?!” Gerard laughed bitterly. “Come on Frank, don’t kid yourself – I wouldn’t want me.” 

It broke Frank’s heart at how little Gerard thought of himself but he ignored it and pushed on. 

“Gerard, you don’t get it –”

“No Frank, _you_ don’t get it,” Gerard said in a world-weary tone that made him sound about a hundred years old. “I mean, it’s bad enough that some Powers That Be decided they wanted to fuck up my life and pretty much say ‘nope, no future or choices for you!’ but then they went and dragged _you_ down into this bullshit as well! You could have been relatively normal, you didn’t have to stay in this stupid town but because of this, you’re supposed to stay here with me. I mean, seriously, how fucked up is that? We didn’t even get a choice in this! Some big unknown power decided for us that I had to stay in this stupid tiny town and protect it, and you and I _had_ to be with each other, and we don’t even get a chance to fight it!”

Frank’s arms were still folded but it now felt more like he was holding himself together than holding himself back. 

“I’m ok with that,” he said quietly. “With not having a say in it and all. I’m ok with ‘having’ to be with you as my mate... because it’s you. Don’t you care about me, Gee?”

Gerard looked horrified as he realised what he’d just said. “Christ Frank, of course I do!! I didn’t mean it like that!!” He gripped Frank’s shoulders tightly, staring at him with wide, earnest eyes. Frank could barely breathe, couldn’t bring himself to tear his gaze away.

“Then why – ”

“Fuck Frank, I – it’s why I hate all this so much - because I didn’t want this for _you_ ,” he said. His fingers were digging so deeply into Frank’s shoulders that he was going to leave marks on top of the ones Frank already had. “It’s not fair on you at all. You didn’t even know what you were signing yourself up for. That’s why I – why I had to distance myself from you. I thought if you thought – I just wanted you to have a choice.” 

Frank stared at him. 

“You idiot,” he said. “You complete and utter fucking idiot. Did it never occur to you that I’d chose you anyway??” He pulled himself free from Gerard’s grip, noticing the sheer confusion that was clearly painted over Gerard’s face now. “You took away my right to fucking choose when you tried to choose for me, you jackass! Do you think I sleep with just anyone?!”

“But – I – I thought –” Gerard trailed off, looking entirely lost now. “I mean – come on Frank, we all know what you’re like. You’ve slept with most the female population of the school.” 

“Half!” Frank corrected, indignantly. 

“Well, that’s the point. It’s not like you’re even into guys –”

“Gerard Way,” Frank said, taking a step towards him. “Gerard-fucking-Way, I have had quite possibly the _worst_ few days of my life lately and I did it all for _you_!! I don’t care if it’s pre-ordained or whatever because whatever the fuck it is, I just know that I want to be with you, and I don’t care how and I have done since I was, like, 14!!”

Gerard’s eyes were so wide that they looked like they were in danger of falling out his head. 

“You – you have?” He licked his lips uncertainly.

“Yes!” Frank said, exasperated. “Ever since Mikey’s birthday party – do you remember? Where I drank too much and you took care of me? Ever since then, Gee.”

“Oh my God,” Gerard said faintly. “But you – you never said anything –”

“How was I supposed to? I didn’t even think you’d like me back, I just thought you’d see me as your little brother’s annoying friend and –“

The rest of Frank’s sentence was lost as Gerard suddenly launched forward and kissed him. The momentum threw him off balance and he collapsed back, landing on the sofa but that didn’t deter Gerard, who climbed on top of him, straddling him and never breaking the kiss the whole time. Frank clung to him, desperately kissing him back with everything he had, until he was dizzy and had to come up for air. 

“I’ve wanted you so badly for so long,” Gerard murmured, his fingers tangling in Frank’s hair and pressing kisses to Frank’s jawline. “Since Mikey first brought you home and introduced you to me...”

“That – that was _years_ ago!” Frank gasped, his fingers fisting around Gerard’s shirt against his back. “Why didn’t you say anything?!”

“Same reason’s as you,” Gerard replied, pressing a lighter kiss to the base of Frank’s ear. “I didn’t want you to get freaked out by Mikey’s weird older brother being a total creeper who hit on underage kids.” 

“Even though you were as underaged as me back then too,” Frank pointed out. “Jesus, Gee, we could have been fucking this _entire_ time.” 

He grabbed Gerard and kissed him deeply, drinking in as much of him as he could. 

“Don’t ever fucking leave me again,” he growled against Gerard’s lips.

“I won’t,” Gerard promised. “I don’t think I could if I tried.” 

Gerard leaned down to kiss Frank again when Frank suddenly became aware of something lumpy in his back. He reached behind him, pulling out the dirty white sheet that had been bundled on the sofa.

“What the hell is this?” he asked. 

Gerard groaned. “Apparently Brendon wrapped me in it when they dragged me over – he said it was ‘fitting.’ Scared the crap out my Mom when I woke up and wandered into the kitchen with only that draped around me.”

“Subtlety’s overrated on those guys, isn’t it?” Frank said. 

“A little bit, yeah,” Gerard agreed and then leaned down to kiss Frank again.

~*~*~

With much reluctance, Frank eventually remembered that he had to go home because the later he left it, the worse it was going to get.

“Oh sure, you stand up to Death himself and go head-to-head against a vampire, and it’s still your _Mom_ you’re scared of?” Pete had asked when Frank said his goodbyes. Brendon had even hugged Frank and awkwardly apologised for ‘the whole trying-to-kill you thing.’ 

“You’ve never met my Mom dude,” Frank said darkly as Mikey and Gerard nodded in agreement. 

Gerard insisted on walking Frank home, holding his hand the entire way and filling him in on two month’s worth of college stories and what he’d been doing (which, it transpired, mostly involved a lot of drinking and moping around). Frank only detangled their hands when they reached his home, stopping outside and wincing as he looked up. All the curtains were shut and his Mom’s car was still in the drive, which meant she was probably waiting for him.

“Oh my God, this is going to be ugly,” Frank said with a wince. 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come in with you?” Gerard asked, taking back Frank’s hands gently in his own. “I could try and talk to your Mom, maybe –”

“Are you insane?!” Frank asked, staring at him incredulously. “I go missing for a day, cut class and then turn up with my face punched to shit holding hands with one of her least favourite people?! Bob would be over here in about ten seconds!”

“We don’t have to be holding hands,” Gerard said softly, although he didn’t let go. 

Frank laughed and leaned up to press a chaste kiss to Gerard’s mouth. 

“She’ll probably take my phone and laptop away as punishment,” he said. “So –”

“Coded letter-writing?” Gerard asked. 

“How old fashioned. I like it!” Frank said, his lips quirking up in a grin. 

“I’ll send you the best letters ever, I promise,” Gerard said. “And I’ll send them priority so you get them every day. And I’ll get Mikey to pass shit to you at school as well.” 

“They’re going to be filled with you ranting about old re-runs of Buffy and doodles of zombies, aren’t they?”

“Totally.”

They both laughed and kissed again. 

“You will write, won’t you?” Frank asked, suddenly worried. “Like, actually write to me and not just say you will to let me –”

“Frank,” Gerard said firmly, cutting him off. He pressed his forehead to Frank’s so their noses were touching. “I’ll be back every weekend until the holidays and then I’m never leaving your side again. I swear.” 

They kissed again. Frank closed his eyes, savouring the feel of Gerard against him.

 _Mine_ , he thought happily. 

He had to eventually let him go with some reluctance. For one thing, they couldn’t risk being seen by either the neighbours, or worse, Frank’s Mom. 

“I’ll call you later today?” Gerard phrased it like a question. “On the house phone or something. I’ll find a way.”

“Make it later,” Frank said. “I need to sleep for like a week.” 

“Me too,” Gerard admitted with a smile. He rubbed the back of his neck and frowned. “Probably shouldn’t complain too much though... all things considered, I got off lightly.” 

He finally stepped away, holding Frank’s hand loosely until the distance was too much. 

“I’ll see you later,” he said again.

“I know you will,” Frank said, smiling. And he did. He might have to deal with some distance for now but in the long-term, Gerard was there to stay. 

Frank watched Gerard walk away until he disappeared around the corner and only then did he finally turn to face his fate. He took a deep breath and quickly pulled his fringe down to try and hide the worst of the facial bruising, even though he knew it was pointless. 

“OK, Frankie, here we go,” he muttered to himself and rang the doorbell.

**Author's Note:**

> As mentioned at the beginning notes, [Ficcety](http://ficcety.dreamwidth.org/profile/) did some incredible art from the part where Frank refuses to stand down over Gerard just after he's been killed. 
> 
>    
> 
> 
> HOLY CRAP, FRANK'S LITTLE DEFIANT FACE!! AND BOB'S FACE PALM!! AND DEAD!WOLF!GEE!!! D,:  
> Hehe, I adore the details on it too, like Frank's torn jeans and all the cracks in the tarmac. This was perfect and such a fantastic vision of that scene. 
> 
> Once again, thank you to both you and [Morganya](http://morganya.dreamwidth.org/) for the art and mix! :)


End file.
